Ronen Shika Igaku
Online ISSN : 1884-7323
Print ISSN : 0914-3866
ISSN-L : 0914-3866
Volume 29, Issue 4
Displaying 1-5 of 5 articles from this issue
Original Articles
  • Tetsuya Rikimaru, Yoshifumi Okura, Hidehiro Kaya
    2015 Volume 29 Issue 4 Pages 329-339
    Published: April 08, 2015
    Released on J-STAGE: April 15, 2015
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Oral health care has been focused on as one of the methods of prevention of a bedridden situation and rehabilitation in the elderly persons. Although some previous reports have demonstrated the association of cerebral activation with oral health care including tooth brushing, the effect of intra-oral brushing stimulation on prefrontal cerebral cortex activation has remained uncertain. In the present study, we examined the effect of intra-oral brushing on cerebral prefrontal cortex activation using near-infrared spectrography in 13 male young adult subjects (aged 19〜47 years, mean age 28.3±9.8 years). Brushing on the teeth, as well as gingival brushing, for 60 sec significantly increased blood flow levels in bilateral prefrontal cortex (PFC), compared to the control condition. In addition, the increase in PFC blood flow with intra-oral brushing was noticed in the left visceral lateral region of PFC (VL-PFC) and the working memory regions corresponded to the activated regions after a learning task such as frequent simple calculations for 60 sec. However, the increase of blood flow in these PFC regions with intra-oral brushing showed a lower level compared to those with a learning task as positive control. These findings suggest firstly that intra-oral brushing for oral health care may lead to an increase in blood flow in PFC, and secondly indicate that intra-oral stimulation may be applied as a useful method to enhance the neurocognitive function in elderly rehabilitation programs, and to prevent the bedridden situation via the neuronal activities in PFC.
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  • Hiroshi Sato, Masahiko Kikuchi, Kanae Esashi
    2015 Volume 29 Issue 4 Pages 340-349
    Published: April 08, 2015
    Released on J-STAGE: April 15, 2015
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Candida species in the oral cavity usually show little pathogenesis but cause oral candidosis as an opportunistic infection because of a weakening of host immune defences. Therefore it is important to investigate the factors related to Candida in the elderly. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the detection of Candida in the oral cavity and several factors associated with oral health in frail or dependent elderly. The subjects were 396 patients (126 men and 270 women) aged 70 years and over (mean age:81.5±6.9 years) who underwent general dental treatment or domiciliary dental care. A swab was taken from the buccal mucosa of the subjects and then transferred into a simplified culture for Candida (Stomastat®). After incubation for 24 h at 37℃, the detection of Candida was assessed based on the color of the culture and classified into three categories:negative, pseudo-positive and positive. The influence of some factors associated with oral health such as subjectsʼ age, gender, residence, oral status, walking ability, and systemic diseases were investigated. The detection of Candida was significantly related to utilization of institution, poor oral hygiene, wearing dentures, less present teeth, difficulty in walking, and presence of dementia or other systemic diseases, whereas age and gender were not associated with Candida. Logistic regression analysis indicated that significant factors affecting the detection of Candida were poor oral hygiene and reduced walking ability; however, wearing dentures and systemic diseases including dementia showed no association with Candida.
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  • Naomichi Murata, Masanao Yamamoto, Yukio Kobayashi, Kyoko Maekawa , To ...
    2015 Volume 29 Issue 4 Pages 350-356
    Published: April 08, 2015
    Released on J-STAGE: April 15, 2015
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Dysphagia symptoms of ALS patients are diverse, such as difficulty in swallowing and choking. It isknown that the risks of aspiration and suffocation increase with disease progression, but it has not been clarified when the risks increase. To reduce these risks, evaluation of the swallowing function before the aggravation of dysphagia, avoidance of aspiration and suffocation risks, and appropriate nutritional management are necessary. This study was performed to clarify the association between the ALS evaluation scales and the swallowing function. The subjects were 57 ALS patients who underwent videofluorography of swallowing (38 males and 19 females). The items dysphagia, aspiration, penetration, pharyngeal residue, and tongue dysfunction were extracted from the videofluorography data. For the ALS evaluation, the total score of ALSFRS-R and the Modified Norris Scale (Limb NorrisScale (Lim) and Norris Bullbar Scale (Bul)) were used. Dysphagia symptoms were noted in 86%, and pharyngeal residue and tongue dysfunction were noted at a high frequency (75% or higher). The association between the ALS evaluation scale and dysphagia was investigated. The ALSFRS-R and Lim scores were not related to the dysphagia symptom. The Bul scales scores were low in patients with aspiration, penetration, and tongue dysfunction. It was clarified that the swallowing function was reduced in patients with bullbar symptoms on the ALS evaluation scale.We suggest that it is necessary to both safely promote oral ingestion based on evaluation of the swallowing function early after the onset of ALS, and also to adopt measures against aspiration and suffocation.
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Clinical Reports
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