[Assessment of the association between nursing care services, hypertension, and Alzheimer's disease in elderly patients with late-stage diabetes].

In an aging society with fewer children, diabetes self-control is difficult for elderly patients. Under these circumstances, it is expected that living in care homes for the elderly and institutions where nursing care services could be provided will help improve the prognosis of diabetic patients. Therefore, we assessed whether HbA(1c).

[Assessment of the relationships between insomnia and hypnotic use with the risk of falls and bone fractures in late-stage elderly patients].

To determine whether insomnia and hypnotic use are predictors of falls and bone fractures in older people, we assessed their relationship using clinical data for 599 late-stage elderly patients receiving home medical care in our clinic from May 2008 to December 2011. Our analysis demonstrated that hypnotic use is not associated with a greater risk of subsequent falls and bone fractures.

[Association of anemia with nutrition in elderly patients].

We analyzed the data for 59 cases in which elderly patients receiving home medical care presented with anemia. Our results demonstrated that the cause of anemia was iron deficiency, chronic inflammation, or chronic kidney disease in 75% of the patients, and that anemia was improved in more than 80% of the patients after appropriate therapeutic treatment. We also found so-called senile anemia with no particular causes in 20% of the patients, and in some of them, both nutrition and anemia have improved.

[Management of elderly patients with high fever].

We analyzed 102 cases of data in which elderly patients with high fever received a home medical care. Our results demonstrated that 68 cases recovered within several days after taking symptom-relieving drugs and antibiotics. Thirty four cases were referred to a hospital for examinations; 25 cases resulted in admission to a hospital for further treatments.

[Usefulness of NT-proBNP as a heart disease marker for late-stage elderly patients receiving home medical care].

The level of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide(NT-proBNP)is a strong predictor of mortality among patients with coronary heart disease, and may be a strong prognostic marker for late-stage elderly patients with heart disease receiving home medical care. We assessed the relationshipbetween NT-proBNP levels and clinical data of 240 late-stage elderly patients receiving home medical care in our clinic from May 2008 to February 2011.

Roles of the C-terminal residues of calmodulin in structure and function.

Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), circular dichroism (CD), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, flow dialysis, and bioactivity measurements were employed to investigate the roles of the C-terminal residues of calmodulin (CaM). In the present study, we prepared a series of truncated mutants of chicken CaM that lack four (CCMΔ4) to eight (CCMΔ8) residues at the C-terminal end. It was found that CCMΔ4, lacking the last four residues (M145 to K148), binds four Ca ions.