The timing of urine passage by bedridden, incontinent elderly persons was studied. Voiding of 7 elderly persons was monitored by an electrolyte sensor for 5 to 7 consecutive days; cumulative measurements were binned at 30min intervals. Both urinary frequency and urinary volume peaked 10 times per day. The timing of the peaks of both urinary frequency and volume coincided well as much as 9 times. There were 2 major peaks after each meal. The first peak occurred within 30min after the meal, while the second peak between 2 and 3hrs thereafter. Two major peaks were also observed about 2 and 6hrs after bedtime respectively. The peaks of both voiding and urinary volume of individual subjects corresponded well to the average by 87.1% for voiding frequency and 82.9% for urinary volume. These results indicate that the patterns of daily voiding of bedridden elderly are regular, rather than random.

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Salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) might be a promising tool with which to evaluate sympathoadrenal medullary system activity. We demonstrated that sAA activity corresponding to exercise test outcomes could function as an index of ability to cope with stress. We investigated the ability of 55 healthy female volunteers (age, 53.7 years; SD, 10.8y) to cope with stress using the sense of coherence (SOC) scale before exercise tests. Levels of sAA activity were measured in saliva samples that were collected before, immediately after and 30 minutes after exercise tests. We then devised an index of changes in sAA based on the values at each of the three time points. Those with medium SOC values had a significantly higher index score than those with high SOC values (p<0.01; four-way ANOVA followed by multiple comparisons using the Bonferroni test). These findings suggest that our index of changes in sAA activities can serve as a marker of the ability to cope with stress.

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We have performed an investigative study about health, physical strength and living environment of children in East Asia. We investigated various measurement items, for example, local cold tolerance, measurement of physical fitness and questionnaire about a lifestyle in five cities of East Asia. The database was made based on these findings. By using the present database, we can investigate the actual situation of a lifestyle and developmental state of children living in urban area of East Asia. In this report, we describe and discuss the result that compared Japan with other cities in East Asia.

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We examined the effects of eating a meal on the physiological responses during the performance of a mental task. Ten male subjects (25±4.5 years) participated in this study. We measured the following items: electrocardiogram (ECG), photoplethysmogram (PTG), baroreflex sensitivity (BRS), salivary-amylase activity levels, NASA task load index (NASA-TLX), reaction time and correct rate of the mental task. All experiments were conducted at the same time of day on separate days under two lunchtime conditions, which were taking a meal (meal condition) and not taking a meal (no meal condition) during the lunchtime. The mental tasks were performed before and after the lunchtime. We analyzed the collected data using a paired t-test. The task performance and subjective evaluation (NASA-TLX) showed no significant difference between meal and no meal conditions. On the other hand, heart rate, pulse wave transit time and BRS were significantly different between meal and no meal conditions. The heart rate during the meal condition was significantly (p<0.01) higher than that during the no meal condition. Pulse wave transit time and BRS during the meal condition were significantly lower than those during the no meal condition. The results suggested that eating a meal effectively increases activity level of physiological functions during the performance of a mental task, especially in the cardiovascular system.

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In this study improvement of health and increase in the daily number of pedometer steps in middle-aged and elderly people during a health promotion exercise program with high exercise adherence were investigated. The subjects included 21 men and 38 women aged from 55 to 70 years (mean age: 64.0±3.7 years, height: 158.7±7.9cm, weight: 59.2±9.4kg, BMI: 23.5±2.7). The 43-week health promotion exercise program consisted of 17 sport events, in which subjects communicated with each other, 2 or 3 times per month and 9 lectures on exercise and health once every month, and the goal for number of pedometer steps was set at 10,000per day. Additionally, to enhance communication, a newsletter was regularly circulated during the health promotion exercise program. The number of pedometer steps per day significantly increased during the health promotion exercise program period. BMI and abdominal circumference were significantly decreased at 38 weeks after the start of the health promotion exercise program compared to those at the start of the program. HDL cholesterol, blood glucose, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure significantly improved during the health promotion exercise program period. Energy intake remained unchanged during the health promotion exercise program period. These results suggest that the health promotion exercise program used in this study maintains high exercise adherence and increases the daily number of pedometer steps in middle-aged and elderly people, resulting in improvement of health.

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本研究は砂地ジャンプにおける足底屈動作の貢献率について検討することが目的であった.被験者は男子大学生7名で,砂を敷き詰めたフォースプレート上で垂直跳びと,膝関節を伸ばした直立姿勢での足底屈を行い,その際の垂直荷重の力積をもとに貢献率を求めた.また,足関節の可動域および角速度も合わせて求めた.硬い木製のプレート上でも同様に行った.垂直跳びの力積は,砂地の方が硬い床よりも有意に小さかった(p<0.05).また,足底屈のみの力積も,砂地の方が硬い床よりも有意に小さかった(p<0.05).しかし,垂直跳びにおける足底屈の貢献率は,砂地と硬い床で有意な違いは認められなかった.また,足関節の可動範囲および角速度にも有意な差はみられなかった.結論として,砂地ジャンプにおける足底屈の貢献率は,硬い床でのジャンプと変わらないことが明らかとなった.

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The aim of this study was to effectively promote health among the middle aged and the elderly. The subjects were participants of a health education program: (1) those who took classes in Nagano city (Classroom activity group) and (2) those who took classes plus once a week workout in Minowa town (Classroom activity plus training group). The number of the subjects in the Classroom activity group were 76 healthy people (17 males and 59 females) whose average age was 59.4 years, and that of Classroom activity plus training group were 99 healthy people (13 males and 86 females) whose average age was 64.5 years. The investigation was carried out before and after the health education program in both groups for comparison using the GO/NO-GO task, the physical fitness test and the blood test. Following the health education program, the GO/NO-GO task, the physical fitness test and the blood test improved significantly both in Classroom activity group and the Classroom activity plus training group. Furthermore, differences were found between the two groups. Specifically, the number of steps decreased significantly among the Classroom activity group participants (mean±SE: 6382.2±300.5) compared with that of the Classroom activity plus training group (mean±SE: 9757.1±135.6). And the Classroom activity plus training group improved significantly in the grip strength, sit-up, sit and reach flexibility, the ten meter obstacle walk, eyes-open single-leg stance of the physical fitness test, as compared with the Classroom activity group.

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In this study, we conducted a double-blind placebo-controlled cross-over study in order to examine the stress reducing effects of ingestions of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), Apocynum Venetum Leaf Extract (AVLE), and concurrent ingestion of both samples. Changes in the concentration of salivary chromogranin A (CgA) and cortisol, scores of a questionnaire, after a stress inducing mental task following every intake were monitored. We found significant differences on CgA activity among the samples. Subjects administered with GABA+AVLE exhibited a significantly less increase in CgA concentration compared with that of placebo condition. This result suggested that concurrent ingestion of GABA and AVLE might be able to reduce mental stress in humans more than single intakes.

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