ABSTRACT
Case 1 was a 28-year-old female who had epigastric discomfort and epigastralgia for three months. These symptoms were accompanied with dizziness, faintness and hot flush. Right after taking ryokeijutsukanto, her dizziness, faintness and chillness of foot disappeared with improvement of gastrointestinal symptoms after two weeks. Case 2 was a 40-year-old female who presented prolonged nausea and epigastralgia for eight months. She also complained of dizziness and strong globus sensation when taking meals. After taking ryokeijutsukanto, her appetite improved in a week and gastrointestinal symptoms improved in 3 weeks. Case 3 was a 15-year-old female whose complaints were nausea, epigastric discomfort, palpitation, dizziness and globus sensation consequent to swaying feeling after riding a roller coaster. These symptoms including nausea improved after taking ryokeijutsukanto with 3g of magnolia bark for a week. Case 4 was a 28-year-old male who presented severe appetite loss and epigastric discomfort when he got tired. He also complained of faintness. His faintness disappeared after taking ryokeijutsukanto for 2 weeks. His appetite also improved after four weeks. Clinical courses of these cases suggest that ryokeijutsukanto may be useful for the treatment of upper gastrointestinal symptoms including functional dyspepsia, i.e. fluid retention with qi-counterflow.
ABSTRACT
Objectives: Increasing activity levels in older people is important for maintaining quality of life and ameliorating the risks of morbidity related to falls, depression, and dementia. This study aimed to clarify the seasonal variation effects on total energy expenditure, number of steps, time spent in low- and moderate- or high-intensity physical activities, and daily activities performed.Patients and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 22 community-dwelling older individuals (3 men, 19 women; mean age, 75.1 ± 7.3 years) living in three districts of Gero, Gifu, who participated in the Gero Salon Project hosted by the Social Welfare Councils. Evaluations were conducted in each season from September 2016 to August 2017. We used a uniaxial accelerometer, the Lifecorder device, which measures physical activity, and the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly to evaluate activities of daily living. Data were analyzed using the multiple comparisons (Bonferroni correction) method.Results: Total energy expenditure and time spent in moderate- or high-intensity activities did not show seasonal variations. However, the lowest number of steps was taken during the winter, and the number of steps increased significantly from winter to spring. The time spent in low-intensity physical activities was significantly longer in the spring and summer than in the winter. There was no significant seasonal difference in total Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly score, leisure activities, domestic activities, or work-related activities. However, there was a significant difference between the summer and winter scores in “outdoor gardening,” with the lowest score observed during the winter.Conclusions: With climate changes in the winter months, “outdoor gardening” becomes difficult, thus decreasing the number of steps taken. Therefore, it is necessary to identify other ways for older people to maintain physical activity during the winter season.
ABSTRACT
This study investigated clinical factors associated with negative urinary antigen tests [UAT] implemented for the diagnosis of pneumococcal community-acquired pneumonia [CAP] in adult patients. We reviewed the medical records of 755 adult patients who completed the UAT in our hospital between 2009 and 2012. Of these, we evaluated 63 patients with bacteriologically confirmed definite pneumococcal CAP [33 were UAT-positive, and 30 were UAT-negative]. There was no significant difference between the UAT-positive and the UAT-negative patients regarding age, dehydration, respiratory failure, orientation, blood pressure [ADROP] score [the CAP severity score proposed by the Japanese Respiratory Society], gender, white blood cell counts, liver/kidney function tests, or urinalysis. However, serum C-reactive protein [CRP] concentrations were 31% lower in the UAT-negative patients than in the UAT-positive patients [p = 0.02]. Furthermore, the prothrombin time-international normalized ratio was 50% higher in the UAT-negative patients than in the UAT-positive patients, although the difference did not reach statistical significance [p = 0.06]. The prevalence of comorbidities was similar in both UAT-positive and UAT-negative patients. However, warfarin had been prescribed in 8 [27%] of the UAT-negative patients compared to only 1 [3%] of the UAT-positive patients [odds ratio = 11.6; p = 0.01]. These results suggested that low serum CRP concentrations and the use of warfarin increased the possibility with which false-negative UAT results occurred in these patients with pneumococcal CAP