Development of geriatric syndromes after taking countermeasures for polypharmacy: an overlooked issue of quitting semiregular single-dose medicine.

We report a case of an elderly woman on polypharmacy who developed appetite loss, general fatigue and muscle weakness mainly from secondary adrenal insufficiency caused by quitting one semiregular single-dose medicine. Because the degree of insufficiency was mild, her symptoms were eliminated after some time without additional treatment. The present case includes important lessons related to medication management in elderly patients.

Could problem lists summarize comprehensive geriatric assessments? A nationwide cross-sectional survey on geriatricians' attitudes towards problem lists.

Aim: The use of problem lists is encouraged to overcome the inconsistency in reporting comprehensive geriatric assessment results. The present study aimed to identify the latent variables influencing the use of geriatrician problem lists.

Methods: Surveys were sent to all geriatricians registered with the Japan Geriatrics Society (n = 1439) as of November 2015, and responses (n = 204) were analyzed with univariate and exploratory factor analyses.

[What we did and learnt in the care of the patients with dementia after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011].

Northeast Japan experienced an earthquake of magnitude 9.0, followed by enormous tsunamis on March 11th 2011. "The Great East Japan Earthquake" greatly affected health conditions of elderly people.

Introduction and overview of the special issue "Brain imaging and aging": The new era of neuroimaging in aging research.

It is well known that the brain is one of the organs particularly affected by aging in terms of function, relative to the gastrointestinal tract and liver, which exhibit less functional decline. There is also a wide range of age-related neurological disorders such as stroke, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease. Therefore, it is very important to understand the relationship between functional age-related change and neurological dysfunction.

Changes in Cognitive Functions in the Elderly Living in Temporary Housing after the Great East Japan Earthquake.

On March 11, 2011, Japan experienced an earthquake of magnitude 9.0 and subsequent enormous tsunamis. This disaster destroyed many coastal cities and caused nearly 20,000 casualties.

First-line gefitinib for elderly patients with advanced NSCLC harboring EGFR mutations. A combined analysis of North-East Japan Study Group studies.

Objective: To assess outcomes of elderly patients with advanced NSCLC harboring an EGFR mutation treated with gefitinib, as well as safety and impact on quality of life (QoL).

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of pooled data from one Phase III and two Phase II studies of 71 patients aged ≥ 70 years with a performance status of 0 - 2. The main outcome measures were progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and response rate (RR), as well as incidence of adverse events and time to 9.

[Emergency medicine after a catastrophic disaster: from a view of geriatrics and gerontology].

The megathrust earthquake and the towering tsunami hit the east coast of Japan on March 11th of 2011 after intervals of 1,142 years. About 90 % of nearly 20,000 victims were drowned in devastating waves, while every town and city along the coast turned out to be a ruin. Over 400,000 people were forced to move to the evacuation centers where the evacuees slept on the floor without electricity, running water or heating systems at freezing nights.

Impact of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami on pneumonia hospitalisations and mortality among adults in northern Miyagi, Japan: a multicentre observational study.

Background: On 11 March 2011, the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami struck off the coast of northeastern Japan. Within 3 weeks, an increased number of pneumonia admissions and deaths occurred in local hospitals.

Methods: A multicentre survey was conducted at three hospitals in Kesennuma City (population 74 000), northern Miyagi Prefecture.

First-line gefitinib in patients aged 75 or older with advanced non-small cell lung cancer harboring epidermal growth factor receptor mutations: NEJ 003 study.

Introduction: Recent studies have demonstrated that first-line treatment with gefitinib, an epidermal growth factor receptor (EFGR)-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor, is significantly superior to standard chemotherapy for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring EGFR sensitive mutations. Meanwhile, the efficacy of gefitinib therapy among elderly populations diagnosed with EGFR-mutated NSCLC has not yet been elucidated. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy and feasibility of gefitinib for chemotherapy-naive patients aged 75 or older with NSCLC harboring EGFR mutations; generally, these patients have no indication for treatment with platinum doublets.

Quality of life with gefitinib in patients with EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer: quality of life analysis of North East Japan Study Group 002 Trial.

Background: For non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations, first-line gefitinib produced a longer progression-free survival interval than first-line carboplatin plus paclitaxel but did not show any survival advantage in the North East Japan 002 study. This report describes the quality of life (QoL) analysis of that study.

Methods: Chemotherapy-naïve patients with sensitive EGFR-mutated, advanced NSCLC were randomized to receive gefitinib or chemotherapy (carboplatin and paclitaxel).

Gefitinib or chemotherapy for non-small-cell lung cancer with mutated EGFR.

Background: Non-small-cell lung cancer with sensitive mutations of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is highly responsive to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as gefitinib, but little is known about how its efficacy and safety profile compares with that of standard chemotherapy.

Methods: We randomly assigned 230 patients with metastatic, non-small-cell lung cancer and EGFR mutations who had not previously received chemotherapy to receive gefitinib or carboplatin-paclitaxel. The primary end point was progression-free survival; secondary end points included overall survival, response rate, and toxic effects.

Frequency of and variables associated with the EGFR mutation and its subtypes.

Mutation in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is frequently seen in non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs), especially in Asian females with adenocarcinoma. The frequency of mutation and the factors associated requires to be elucidated by analyzing a large number of consecutive clinical samples. We summarized the result of the EGFR mutation analysis for 1,176 patients performed at the time of diagnosis or relapse.

First-line gefitinib for patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer harboring epidermal growth factor receptor mutations without indication for chemotherapy.

Purpose: This multicenter phase II study was undertaken to investigate the efficacy and feasibility of gefitinib for patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations without indication for chemotherapy as a result of poor performance status (PS).

Patients And Methods: Chemotherapy-naïve patients with poor PS (patients 20 to 74 years of age with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group PS 3 to 4, 75 to 79 years of age with PS 2 to 4, and >or= 80 years of age with PS 1 to 4) who had EGFR mutations examined by the peptide nucleic acid-locked nucleic acid polymerase chain reaction clamp method were enrolled and received gefitinib (250 mg/d) alone.

Results: Between February 2006 and May 2007, 30 patients with NSCLC and poor PS, including 22 patients with PS 3 to 4, were enrolled.

Nitroglycerin treatment may enhance chemosensitivity to docetaxel and carboplatin in patients with lung adenocarcinoma.

Purpose: Nitroglycerin may improve the response to chemotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer. The effects and mechanisms of nitroglycerin on the enhancement of chemosensitivity to docetaxel and carboplatin regimen (DCb) in patients with lung adenocarcinoma have not been reported.

Experimental Design: Seventeen patients with operable lung adenocarcinoma and stable angina pectoris were selected to investigate the effects of nitroglycerin on immunoreactivity for hypoxia-inducible factor 1alpha (HIF-1alpha), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), P-glycoprotein (P-gp), the production of which is regulated by HIF-1, and p53 proteins in their resected tumor by semiquantitative immunohistochemical analyses.

An anti-inflammatory function for the complement anaphylatoxin C5a-binding protein, C5L2.

C5L2 is an enigmatic serpentine receptor that is co-expressed with the C5a receptor on many cells including polymorphonuclear neutrophils. The apparent absence of coupling of C5L2 with G proteins suggests that this receptor may modulate the biological activity of C5a, perhaps by acting as a decoy receptor. Alternatively, C5L2 may affect C5a function through formation of a heteromeric complex with the C5aR, or it may utilize a G protein-independent signaling pathway.

Increased arterial carboxyhemoglobin concentrations in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Rationale: Exhaled carbon monoxide (CO) and arterial blood carboxyhemoglobin concentrations (Hb-CO) increase in inflammatory pulmonary diseases.

Objectives: To study whether arterial Hb-CO is useful to monitor disease activity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who had stopped smoking.

Methods: We measured arterial Hb-CO, arteriovenous Hb-CO differences, and FEV1 in 58 patients with COPD and 61 ex-smoking control subjects.

Expression of nitric oxide synthase-2 in the lungs decreases airway resistance and responsiveness.

Individuals with asthma have increased levels of nitric oxide in their exhaled air. To explore its role, we have developed a regulatable transgenic mouse capable of overexpressing inducible nitric oxide synthase in a lung-specific fashion. The CC10-rtTA-NOS-2 mouse contains two transgenes, a reverse tetracycline transactivator under the control of the Clara cell protein promoter and the mouse nitric oxide synthase-2 (NOS-2) coding region under control of a tetracycline operator.