Abstract
In order to estimate a tendency of researchers' interest in psychosomatic diseases (PSD) in gastroenterology in Japan, the author calculated the number of papers that had been read at the congresses of the Japanese Society of Psychosomatic Medicine for the past twenty years. The number of total papers amounted 2,120,in which 237 (11.2%) dealt with gastro-enterological diseases. These 237 papers were classified into 30 items. Anorexia nervosa and peptic ulcers were in the first group. Irritable conlon syndrome and so-called peritoneal adhesion belonged to the second group. The third group was composed of five diseases including inflammatory bowel diseases, IBD. The author and his co-workers in Hirosaki University also reported 79 papers including the current topics read at the provincial meetings of the JSPSM. Of these papers, 29 were on clinical tests, examinations and therapies. In the remaining 50,PSDs of the digestive tracts were found in 35(70%). In this paper, the author presented four typical cases in which psychic or emotional stress was proven to play the most important part in the etiology of their disorders. Case 1 was a female student of 21 years of age. The main complaint was severe weight loss, from 37 kg to 19. When she was elected leader of a student-circle, a sub-leader stood against her in every dicision the patient wished to make. This conflict was the cause of anorexia nervosa. Family history revealed that her father was quite dominant, especially toward her mother. Hospitalization for five weeks was enough for her recovery. Case 2 with peptic duodenal ulcer was the author himself. When he was 46 years old, gastrectomy was performed because of profuse hemorrhage. His history of ulcer, however, had been repeated for about 30 years long, and the main cause of each recurrence was emotional stress. The autor reported his own protocol in detail. Case 3 was a 60-year-old male professor of a national university with a typical irritable colon syndrome. Before the syndrome occurred, two daughters were admitted to a hospital, the elder one for brain tumor and the younger for ulcerative colitis. The patient recovered from the disease soon after he became aware of the cause. Case 4 was a 26-year-old female. The initial attack of her ulcerative colitis came just after her marriage. After the first recurrence she was admitted to Komagome Hospital and died six months later. She had a very complicated history in her birth and family relations. The author reported clinical and social data in detail, showing many slides.
