[in Japanese]

View full abstract

[in Japanese]

View full abstract

The Cigarette-associated diseases will be decreased only by stopping smoking.
At a smoking cessation clinic, we evaluated 22 subjects for smoking cessation after a three-month smoking cessation program.
The program was completed by 20 subjects, or 90%, of whom 15, or 68%, quit smoking.
Varenicline tartrate was used to treat 90% of subject, of whom 8, or 40%, suffered nausea. This was treated using an anti-nausea agent, which relieved symptoms immediately.

View full abstract

A 21-year-old man admitted for idiopathic fever and sore throat was diagnosed with virus-associated hemophagocytic syndrome (VAHS) when bone marrow aspirate showed hemophagocytosis. ELISA for HIV antibodies was negative, although HIV RNA was positive. VAHS is extremely rare as an initial manifestation in HIV infection, being reported, to our knowledge, in only 4 subjects in Japan.
Hemophagocytic syndrome (HPS) features fever and hepatosplenomegaly associated with pancytopenia, hypertriglyceridemia, and hypofibrinogemia, due to hypercytokinemia.
Physicians should thus be aware that primary HIV infection may involve glandular-fever-like illness and should start prompt diagnosis to contain AIDS spread.

View full abstract

The dissemination of newborn hearing screening (NHS) has enabled those with mild to moderate hearing loss to be diagnosed in early infancy. The “handicapped independence support law”, however, prevents those not determined to be physically handicapped, -i.e., those with mild to moderate hearing loss-, from government assistance in purchasing hearing aids. This results either in (i) parents purchasing hearing aids at their own expense or (ii) nonpurchase of hearing aids. To redress this situation, subvention in purchasing hearing aids of mild to moderate hearing loss children has been begun by some local governments.
We petitioned for such aid at the Okayama Prefecture Assembly. A society for supporting pediatric hearing difficulty in Okayama Prefecture also submitted a similar petition in September 2009, and subvention began in April 2010 for all such children in Okayama Prefecture.
We report procedures and details leading to this subvention.

View full abstract