Lower limb muscle strengthening exercises in patients with early-stage amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a case series study.

[Purpose] We investigated whether patients with early-stage amyotrophic lateral sclerosis can improve their voluntary strength with a physical therapy program. [Participants and Methods] This retrospective case series study at a single university hospital included 13 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis functional rating scale-revised ≥35, modified functional ambulation categories score ≥4). Physical therapy was performed for 3 weeks.

Recovery from prolonged thrombocytopenia in patients with TAFRO syndrome: case series and literature review.

TAFRO syndrome is a newly proposed disease that is characterised by thrombocytopenia, anasarca, fever, reticulin fibrosis (or renal dysfunction), and organomegaly. Generally, high doses of corticosteroids are recommended for the initial treatment of TAFRO syndrome; however, some patients experience prolonged refractory thrombocytopenia after initiating such therapies. If corticosteroid treatment alone is ineffective, additional immunosuppressive therapies such as cyclosporine A are recommended.

Pediatric drug development in Japan: Current issues and perspectives.

The number of clinical trials in Japan that aim to obtain regulatory approval for new drugs and devices has increased for adults, but not children. The following reasons have been proposed for this discrepancy: the wide range of ages from newborns to adolescents, requirements for many drug formulations, the difficulties associated with obtaining consent, and less profit for companies. The processes required to obtain regulatory approval for drugs and devices, particularly in the pediatric field, differ among Japan, Europe, and the United States (US).

Japanese cross-cultural validation study of the Pain Stage of Change Questionnaire.

Introduction: Although evidence supports efficacy of treatments that enhance self-management of chronic pain, the efficacy of these treatments has been hypothesized to be influenced by patient readiness for self-management. The Pain Stage of Change Questionnaire (PSOCQ) is a reliable and valid measure of patient readiness to self-manage pain. However, there is not yet a Japanese version of the PSOCQ (PSOCQ-J), which limits our ability to evaluate the role of readiness for pain self-management in function and treatment response in Japanese patients with chronic pain.

A Cross-Cultural Validation of the Multidimensional Pain Readiness to Change Questionnaire 2 for Japanese Individuals With Chronic Pain.

Objectives: The Multidimensional Pain Readiness to Change Questionnaire 2 (MPRCQ2) is a reliable and valid measure that assesses readiness to adopt a variety of discrete pain self-management responses. We sought to translate and evaluate psychometric properties of the Japanese version of the MPRCQ2 (MPRCQ2-J) in individuals with chronic pain.

Methods: One hundred seventy-three individuals with chronic pain were asked to complete the MPRCQ2-J, as well as measures assessing pain intensity, pain interference, self-efficacy, and general readiness to adopt a self-management approach for pain.

Risk Factors for Polypharmacy in Elderly Patients With Cancer Pain.

Objective: Polypharmacy (PP) is a burden in elderly patients with cancer pain; however, risk factors for PP remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the risk factors for PP in this patient population.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical charts of patients aged ≥65 years with cancer pain who were treated at Osaka University Hospital between February 2014 and June 2016 according to the World Health Organization 3-step ladder for cancer pain relief.

Evaluating the psychometric properties of two-item and four-item short forms of the Japanese Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire: a cross-sectional study.

Purpose: The Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire is a valid measure assessing self-efficacy in individuals with chronic pain. Short-form versions of the measure have been developed to decrease the assessment burden. However, few studies have evaluated the psychometric properties of the short forms in languages other than English.

Effect of muscle strengthening exercise and time since onset in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A 2-patient case series study.

Exercise for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) can be expected to improve function at the early stage of disease, but improvement cannot be expected at the late stage. However, no report has investigated the correlation between the effect of exercise and time since onset. This study examined the relevance between the effect of muscle strengthening exercise and time since onset in patients with ALS.

The Relationships Between Pain-Catastrophizing Subcomponents and Multiple Pain-Related Outcomes in Japanese Outpatients with Chronic Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Objectives: The present study sought to examine associations between the pain-catastrophizing subcomponents and multiple pain-related outcomes in Japanese individuals with chronic pain.

Methods: A cross-sectional study design was employed with 213 chronic pain outpatients. The participants were recruited from 3 units at a university hospital and from a pain clinic at a municipal hospital.

Rehabilitation for a patient with anti-Yo antibody-positive paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration caused by breast cancer: A case report and literature review.

Rationale: Rehabilitation for paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration (PCD) has been indicated as necessary. However, there are only a few reports on rehabilitation in PCD. We describe the course of physical and cognitive functions and activities of daily living (ADL) in a patient with PCD and examine the effect of rehabilitation, along with a review of relevant literature.

Monounsaturated fatty acids might be key factors in the Mediterranean diet that suppress rheumatoid arthritis disease activity: The TOMORROW study.

Background & Aims: The Mediterranean diet is reportedly effective in suppressing disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but the key elements responsible for this effect remain unknown. The presented study therefore aimed to identify such elements.

Methods: This study included 208 consecutive patients with RA (RA group) and 205 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers (controls) from the prospective "TOMORROW" cohort study that has been ongoing since 2010 were included in this study.

Patient-controlled bolus femoral nerve block after knee arthroplasty: quadriceps recovery, analgesia, local anesthetic consumption.

Background: Continuous femoral nerve block (cFNB) induces quadriceps muscle weakness, but patient-controlled femoral nerve block (PCFNB) can provide analgesia with lower consumption of local anesthetics compared to cFNB. We hypothesized that cFNB followed by PCFNB leads to accelerated recovery of quadriceps weakness after total knee arthroplasty compared to cFNB alone. Secondary outcomes were local anesthetic consumption, pain, and mobilization.

MiR-29a Assists in Preventing the Activation of Human Stellate Cells and Promotes Recovery From Liver Fibrosis in Mice.

The microRNA-29 (miR-29) family is known to suppress the activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and reversibly control liver fibrosis; however, the mechanism of how miR-29a controls liver fibrosis remains largely unknown. This study was conducted to clarify the mechanism of anti-fibrotic effect of miR-29a and to explore if miR-29a is a promising candidate for nucleic acid medicine against liver fibrosis. Two liver fibrosis murine models (carbon tetrachloride or thioacetamide) were used.

Clinical practice guidelines for therapeutic drug monitoring of arbekacin: a consensus review of the Japanese Society of Chemotherapy and the Japanese Society of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring.

Arbekacin (ABK) was approved and widely used in Japan for treatment of patients infected with MRSA, and TDM was introduced in clinical practice. The Japanese Society of Chemotherapy and the Japanese Society of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring decided to develop a clinical practice guidelines for TDM of ABK for the following reasons. First, although the daily dose of 150-200 mg was approved in Japan, recent PK-PD studies revealed that higher serum concentration is required to achieve better clinical efficacy and several findings concerning the usefulness of higher dosage regimen have obtained recently.

[Development of a clinical decision support system using clinical laboratory test data].

Objectives: An alert system in a hospital information system (HIS) would be helpful for physicians to prescribe medication appropriately. In this study we developed an alert system that extracts target problems from the raw data and verifies whether contraindicated medication is prescribed.

Methods: This system scrutinizes data handled in the HIS.

Beneficial effects of foot care nursing for people with diabetes mellitus: an uncontrolled before and after intervention study.

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a preventative foot care nursing programme for diabetic patients.

Background: Foot complications are common in diabetic patients and prevention of such complications requires foot care. However, there is little information on the effectiveness of foot care nursing on the incidence and recurrence of diabetic foot.

[Encounter of cancer cells with bone. Radiotherapy for bone metastasis of cancer].

Almost all bone metastases of cancer with pain are indicated to radiotherapy (RT) . Pathological fracture, impending fracture at lower extremities and radio-resistant tumor should receive preceding surgery. RT is set up to fix lesional bone and consists of 30Gy÷10fr÷2w to rectangular fields opposed anteroposteriorly in general.

Independent index extension after indicis proprius transfer: excision of juncturae tendinum.

Isolated extension of the index finger after extensor indicis proprius (EIP) transfer was studied. In cadavers, the extensor digitorum communis (EDC) muscle of the index finger received distinct innervation from the posterior interosseous nerve and was well separated, with its own innervation, from the other EDC muscle. Examination of von Schroeder's type I juncturae tendinum (JT) between the index and long finger showed two types: von Schroeder type IA (16 of 27 hands; 59%) was fascia only; von Schroeder type IB (11 of 27 hands; 41%) was thin filamentous bands.