Balneological Research Institutes of the Japanese National Universities / 日本温泉気候物理医学会雑誌

  Japan has abundant hot springs resources that have been empirically used for medical treatment and recreation for people with various diseases or injuries. In 1926, the University of Tokyo inaugurated the Department of Physical Medicine for the scientific study of the effects of hot springs on the human body and mind. Thereafter, balneological research institutes or spa hospitals were established that were affiliated with six national universities; Kyushu, Hokkaido, Okayama, Tohoku, Kagoshima and Gunma had been established by 1951. Although these balneological institutes, including the University of Tokyo, greatly advanced the basic and clinical research on the therapeutic effects of hot springs, they all were either closed or integrated into the main hospital of the university between 1994 and 2018, owing both to government reforms to national universities and decreased government financial support. A brief history of each institute and several titles of published research studies performed there are provided in this article.   The closing of these research institutes is regrettable; however, balneological research is today an important field that contributes to maintenance and promotion of health for the sharply rising number of aged people in Japan. It is expected that a member of the Japanese Society of Balneology, Climatology and Physical Medicine will further develop balneological research using advanced scientific technologies, based on the results achieved in the seven historical institutes mentioned above.

Balneological Research Institutes of the Japanese National Universities / 日本温泉気候物理医学会雑誌

  Japan has abundant hot springs resources that have been empirically used for medical treatment and recreation for people with various diseases or injuries. In 1926, the University of Tokyo inaugurated the Department of Physical Medicine for the scientific study of the effects of hot springs on the human body and mind. Thereafter, balneological research institutes or spa hospitals were established that were affiliated with six national universities; Kyushu, Hokkaido, Okayama, Tohoku, Kagoshima and Gunma had been established by 1951. Although these balneological institutes, including the University of Tokyo, greatly advanced the basic and clinical research on the therapeutic effects of hot springs, they all were either closed or integrated into the main hospital of the university between 1994 and 2018, owing both to government reforms to national universities and decreased government financial support. A brief history of each institute and several titles of published research studies performed there are provided in this article.   The closing of these research institutes is regrettable; however, balneological research is today an important field that contributes to maintenance and promotion of health for the sharply rising number of aged people in Japan. It is expected that a member of the Japanese Society of Balneology, Climatology and Physical Medicine will further develop balneological research using advanced scientific technologies, based on the results achieved in the seven historical institutes mentioned above.

Eighty Years of the Japanese Society of Balneology, Climatology and Physical Medicine / 日本温泉気候物理医学会雑誌

  The Japanese Society of Balneology, Climatology and Physical Medicine (JSBCPM) was founded in 1935 with the aim of researching the scientific bases of balneotherapy. The Society was admitted as the 15th affiliated member of the Japanese Association of Medical Sciences, which consists of 123 medical societies today. The scientific meeting of the Society has been held annually and the 80th anniversary meeting was celebrated in 2015.   The number of members has gradually increased over the past 30 years due to rising interest in balneotherapy. The members counted 1914, including 976 balneotherapists who had completed a training course for balneotherapy of which 221 were Society-certified balneotherapy specialists in 2015. The Society has held a training course for balneotherapy and study meetings in 7 areas of Japan once a year to promote balneology. The official journal (J. Jpn. Soc. Balneol. Climatol. Phys. Med.) has been issued quarterly and several textbooks relating to spa treatment have been published by the committee of the Society.   In the annual scientific meeting, several special lectures and an average of 50 free papers have been presented. The main concerns of the members, assumed from the percentage of titles of papers appearing in J. Jpn. Soc. Balneol. Climatol. Phys. Med., had been spa bathing treatment followed by climatology and the chemistry of hot springs water up until volume 50; however, they have recently shifted to the physiology of heat stimuli, health promotion with spa bathing and mox and acupuncture instead of climatology and chemistry.   The Society reported “the indications and contra-indications of spa treatment” in 2010 after 5 years’ research into medical references on balneology by request of the Ministry of the Environment. Based on this report the official notification for indications and contra-indications of balneotherapy was changed in 2014 by the Chief of Natural Environment in the Ministry of the Environment. The organization of balneotherapists has performed several studies on the effect of balneotherapy and reported the results of them in J. Jpn. Soc. Balneol. Climatol. Phys. Med., volumes 65 and 74.   The 39th Congress of the International Society of Medical Hydrology and Climatology (ISMH) was successfully held in Kyoto under the sponsorship of JSBCPM in 2014.

Eighty Years of the Japanese Society of Balneology, Climatology and Physical Medicine / 日本温泉気候物理医学会雑誌

  The Japanese Society of Balneology, Climatology and Physical Medicine (JSBCPM) was founded in 1935 with the aim of researching the scientific bases of balneotherapy. The Society was admitted as the 15th affiliated member of the Japanese Association of Medical Sciences, which consists of 123 medical societies today. The scientific meeting of the Society has been held annually and the 80th anniversary meeting was celebrated in 2015.<BR>  The number of members has gradually increased over the past 30 years due to rising interest in balneotherapy. The members counted 1914, including 976 balneotherapists who had completed a training course for balneotherapy of which 221 were Society-certified balneotherapy specialists in 2015. The Society has held a training course for balneotherapy and study meetings in 7 areas of Japan once a year to promote balneology. The official journal (J. Jpn. Soc. Balneol. Climatol. Phys. Med.) has been issued quarterly and several textbooks relating to spa treatment have been published by the committee of the Society. <BR>  In the annual scientific meeting, several special lectures and an average of 50 free papers have been presented. The main concerns of the members, assumed from the percentage of titles of papers appearing in J. Jpn. Soc. Balneol. Climatol. Phys. Med., had been spa bathing treatment followed by climatology and the chemistry of hot springs water up until volume 50; however, they have recently shifted to the physiology of heat stimuli, health promotion with spa bathing and mox and acupuncture instead of climatology and chemistry.<BR>  The Society reported “the indications and contra-indications of spa treatment” in 2010 after 5 years’ research into medical references on balneology by request of the Ministry of the Environment. Based on this report the official notification for indications and contra-indications of balneotherapy was changed in 2014 by the Chief of Natural Environment in the Ministry of the Environment. The organization of balneotherapists has performed several studies on the effect of balneotherapy and reported the results of them in J. Jpn. Soc. Balneol. Climatol. Phys. Med., volumes 65 and 74.<BR>  The 39th Congress of the International Society of Medical Hydrology and Climatology (ISMH) was successfully held in Kyoto under the sponsorship of JSBCPM in 2014.

Principles of Quality Controlled Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection with Appropriate Dissection Level and High Quality Resected Specimen

Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) has enabled en bloc resection of early stage gastrointestinal tumors with negligible risk of lymph node metastasis, regardless of tumor size, location, and shape. However, ESD is a relatively difficult technique compared with conventional endoscopic mucosal resection, requiring a longer procedure time and potentially causing more complications. For safe and reproducible procedure of ESD, the appropriate dissection of the ramified vascular network in the level of middle submucosal layer is required to reach the avascular stratum just above the muscle layer. The horizontal approach to maintain the appropriate depth for dissection beneath the vascular network enables treatment of difficult cases with large vessels and severe fibrosis. The most important aspect of ESD is the precise evaluation of curability. This approach can also secure the quality of the resected specimen with enough depth of the submucosal layer.

Analgesic effect of low energy laser to finger joints in rheumatoid arthritis / 日本温泉気候物理医学会雑誌

The following analgesic effects have resulted from irradiating each finger joint (DIP, PIP, and MCP) of patients with rheumatoid arthritis for 20 seconds using the semiconductor laser, “uni-Laser” (10mw, 790nm) from ITO company.<br>1) Comparison of the post-exposure state with the pre-exposure state in the open test<br>i) Of 13 cases of joint pain, 7 cases showed improvement and 6 cases showed no change with no case showing aggravation.<br>ii) Duration of analgesic effect was less than 48 hours in 2 cases, less than 72 hours in 1 case, and more than 96 hours in 3 cases.<br>2) Comparison of the post-exposure state with the pre-exposure state in the single blind test on a total of 25 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Twelve patients were exposed to the irradiation twice per week, 10 times a session (irradiated group) and 13 were exposed to the dummy of the above (control group).<br>i) The irradiated group improved considerably in the number of painful joints, frequency of joint pain, and grasping power. The rate of improvement was superior to that of the control group (P<0.05).<br>ii) No significant improvement in duration of morning stiffness was shown in either group.