Regional Collaboration for Heart Failure Patients Certified as Needing Support or Care in Long-Term Care Insurance System.

Background: Heart failure (HF) patients with complex care needs often experience exacerbations during the transitional phase as care providers and settings change. Regional collaboration aims to ensure continuity of care; however, its impact on vulnerable patients certified as needing support or care under the Japanese long-term care insurance (LTCI) system remains unclear.

Methods And Results: We implemented a regional collaborative program for HF patients involving 3 pillars of transitional care with general practitioners and nursing care facilities: (1) standardized health monitoring using a patient diary and identification of exacerbation warning signs; (2) standardized information sharing among care providers; and (3) standardized HF management manuals.

Association of a Transitional Heart Failure Management Program With Readmission and End-of-Life Care in Rural Japan.

Evidence on transitional care for heart failure (HF) in Japan is limited. We implemented a transitional HF management program in rural Japan in 2019. This involved collaboration with general practitioners or nursing care facilities and included symptom monitoring by medical/nursing staff using a handbook; standardized discharge care planning and information sharing on self-care and advance care planning using a collaborative sheet; and sharing expertise on HF management via manuals.

Factors affecting the willingness of nursing care staffs for cooperation with heart failure care and the role of internet video education.

Background: With the aging of heart failure (HF) patients, collaboration between medical and nursing care facilities is essential for HF care. The aims of this study were: (1) to identify the factors that affect willingness of nursing care staffs to cooperate with HF care; (2) to test whether the internet video education is useful in improving their willingness to collaborate.

Methods: A web-based questionnaire was e-mailed to 417 registered medical corporations that operated nursing care facilities in the prefecture where the authors work.

A History of Recurrent Episodes of Prolonged Cough as a Predictive Value for Determining Cough Variant Asthma in a Primary Care Setting.

Background: Many patients visit primary care clinics with a complaint of cough. General practitioners (GPs) developed a list of the causative diseases of cough that can produce a patient's symptoms and signs. Then, the patients' medical histories were evaluated to determine whether the diagnosis of cough variant asthma (CVA) or post-infectious cough (PIC) could have been predicted.

Differences in the effects of Asian dust on pulmonary function between adult patients with asthma and those with asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease overlap syndrome.

Background: Asian dust (AD) exposure exacerbates pulmonary dysfunction in patients with asthma. Asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease overlap syndrome (ACOS), characterized by coexisting symptoms of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is considered a separate disease entity. Previously, we investigated the effects of AD on pulmonary function in adult patients with asthma.

Effect of Asian dust on pulmonary function in adult asthma patients in western Japan: A panel study.

Background: Asian dust (AD) has become a major health concern. The concentration of AD is typically expressed in particulate matter less than 10 μm (PM10) and 2.5 μm (PM2.

Association of Sand Dust Particles with Pulmonary Function and Respiratory Symptoms in Adult Patients with Asthma in Western Japan Using Light Detection and Ranging: A Panel Study.

Light detection and ranging (LIDAR) can estimate daily volumes of sand dust particles from the East Asian desert to Japan. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between sand dust particles and pulmonary function, and respiratory symptoms in adult patients with asthma. One hundred thirty-seven patients were included in the study.

Effects on asthma and induction of interleukin-8 caused by Asian dust particles collected in western Japan.

Objective: Asian dust storms (ADS) contain various airborne particles that may augment airway inflammation by increasing the level of interleukin-8. The objective of the study was to investigate the association of exposure to an ADS with worsening of symptoms of adult asthma and the effect of ADS particles on interleukin-8 transcriptional activity.

Methods: The subjects were 112 patients with mild to moderate asthma who recorded scores for their daily upper and lower respiratory tract symptoms and measured morning peak expiratory flow (PEF) from March to May 2011.

Enhancement of cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity by ROCK inhibitor through suppression of focal adhesion kinase-independent mechanism in lung carcinoma cells.

Intracellular signaling through Rho-associated coiled-coil forming kinase (ROCK) is a target of antimetastatic therapy and is proposed to be involved in carcinogenesis. Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) functions downstream of ROCK and participates in anti-apoptotic signaling. We hypothesized that a specific ROCK inhibitor, Y-27632, may exert a pro-apoptotic effect in combination with anticancer agents through the suppression of FAK.

Calprotectin (S100A8/S100A9), an inflammatory protein complex from neutrophils with a broad apoptosis-inducing activity.

Calprotectin, a complex of two calcium-binding proteins that belong to the S100 protein family, is abundant in the cytosolic fraction of neutrophils. A high level of calprotectin reportedly exists in extracellular fluid during various inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, cystic fibrosis and abscesses. However, the exact biological role(s) of the factor is now under investigation.

Positional candidate approach for the gene responsible for benign adult familial myoclonic epilepsy.

Benign adult familial myoclonic epilepsy (BAFME) is an autosomal dominant idiopathic epileptic syndrome characterized by adult-onset tremulous finger movement, myoclonus, epileptic seizures, and nonprogressive course, recognized in Japanese families. We recently assigned the gene locus to chromosome 8q23.3-q24.

[Successful treatment of weekly paclitaxel for a patient with recurrent lung cancer].

A 44-year-old man with recurrent lung cancer was readmitted to the hospital for chemotherapy. He was first treated by chemotherapy of CDDP + etoposide, after which the chemotherapy was changed to a regimen of weekly paclitaxel because of his desire to work. He could then be discharged from the hospital and return to his work.