ABSTRACT
Our hospital comprises nine departments of internal medicine that specialize in different organs, and the Department of General Internal Medicine is one of these departments. The inpatient department has 30 beds for providing medical care, and education is provided for junior and senior residents. We examined the diagnoses in 593 cases (289 men, 304 women ; mean age, 64.2±21.2 years old) who were hospitalized in the Department of General Internal Medicine at this hospital between April 2007 and March 2008. The major diseases included pneumonia, 111 cases ; urinary tract infections, 44 cases ; infectious enteritis, 34 cases ; bronchial asthma, 24 cases ; fever of unknown origin, 12 cases ; heart failure, 11 cases ; viral infections 9 cases, diverticulitis, 8 cases ; malignant lymphoma, 7 cases ; infectious mononucleosis, 7 cases ; polymyalgia rheumatica, 6 cases ; and others. In order to provide diagnoses and treatments for cases in which no diagnosis could not be obtained on the first outpatient visit, for example, it is necessary to have a ward for general internal medicine as a location for providing medical care that is not limited to any specialized field.
ABSTRACT
Purpose : This study was undertaken to examine the relationship between pedometer counts and food intake in Japanese elderly people.Methods : One-hundred-eighty healthy, community-dwelling elderly people were divided into three groups according to age. The number of steps taken by each subject was recorded with a pedometer over a 30-day period in August. The dietary and nutritional intakes were estimated using a food frequency questionnaire.Results : There was no significant difference in the pedometer counts between men and women. The number of steps significantly decreased with age (p<0.01). The intake of energy, protein and carbohydrate were significantly higher in men than in women (p<0.05), and they were nearly the same among the three aged groups. The calcium and vitamin C intakes after adjusting for sex and age increased with the number of daily steps, except for the intakes of energy, protein and carbohydrates.Conclusion : A higher number of daily steps was found to be associated with the calcium and vitamin C intakes.
ABSTRACT
Purpose : This study was undertaken to clarify the effect of heme-iron supplementation on the prevention of iron-deficiency anemia in male collegiate distance runners.Methods : Forty-one male collegiate runners were divided into three groups, consisting of a heme-iron group (HI), a citrate-iron group (CI), and a non-iron group (NI). Iron tablets (heme-iron or citrate-iron) were administered at a dose of 7 mg per day for two months. The blood components and nutritional intakes were estimated before and after the intervention.Results : The nutritional intakes did not differ among the three groups. The red blood cell, hemoglobin, hematocrit, ferritin, Glutamic-Pyruvate Transferase and <i>γ</i>-Glutamyl Transpeptidase levels were unchanged throughout the experimental periods. After the intervention, the serum iron levels significantly decreased in the NI group but not in the iron-supplemented groups, while the reticulocytes counts increased among the three groups.Conclusion : The small amount of heme-iron supplementation was thus found to have a preventive effect on iron deficiency anemia without causing any negative side affects.
ABSTRACT
Purpose : Rhythmic gymnasts sometimes develop severe iron-deficiency anemia. Preventing such anemia could thus enhance both their performance and health. We compared the relationship between a dietary intervention and RBC metabolism.Methods : Ten female rhythmic gymnasts were recruited for this study. Changes in the RBC delta-aminolevulinate dehydratase (δ-ALAD) activity were used as an index of biosynthesis, and changes in the haptoglobin (hp) were used to assess degradation.Results : During the one month intervention period, the athletes consumed traditional Japanese foods which provide 1500 kcal energy, 2 g/kg body weight protein, 200 g carbohydrate and 15 mg iron. No main effect of this intervention on the hematological indexes was observed. The δ-ALAD activity was significantly greater in August than in July or September. Hp concentration was significantly lower in August in comparison to the other periods.Conclusion : Dietary intervention might enhance the RBC turnover by increasing the capacity for erythrocyte biosynthesis and degradation.