It is well known that intestinal motility has circadian rhythms as well as sleep-wake cycles and muramyl peptides affect sleep as the sleep-inducing substance. It is possible that bowel habits influence sleep health. The aim of this study is to epidemiologically investigate the relationship between bowel habits including functional constipation (FC) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and sleep health. Young adult women living in the Tokyo metropolitan area were examined using the selfreported questionnaire. Subjects with FC or IBS were selected by Rome II. The score estimating the degree of parasomnia-like problems in FC and IBS was higher than in control. Weekday sleepiness in FC and IBS was also higher than in control. Weekday sleeping time in IBS was significantly shortened. The number of having breakfast, time cue of biological rhythms, was extremely decreased in FC. Irregularity of sleep onset time, sleeping time and sleep habits, which are related to biological rhythms, in FC and IBS were higher than in control. This study suggests that sleep health in FC and IBS is impaired compared with control and bowel habits may be related to sleep health. Bowel habits seem to be worthy of notice as a risk factor for sleep disorders.

View full abstract

The aim of this research was to explore the relations between bone mass decrease and arteriosclerosis according to aging in country-living women over forty years. 40 women from 41 years to 76 years old were recruited. Bone-mass was measured using ultra-sound bone densitometer (Lunar A1000+). Degree of arteriosclerosis (ASI) was measured by Cardio-vision MS2000. Also Plasma concentrations of E2, progesterone, NTx, BAP, total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL, adrenaline, nor-adrenaline, dopamine, ACTH, cortisol, IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α were measured. Ultra-sound indexes (stiffness, SOS and BUA) in forties were almost equal to those of twenties, but rapidly decreased in fifties and reached to the osteoporosis-crisis levels in seventies. NTx and BAP showed rapid increase from fifties and kept higher levels even in seventies. Both of them were significantly explained by the decrease of E2 by using stepwise regression. ASI increased according to aging. ASI was significantly explained by adrenaline by using stepwise regression. In pre-menopausal women, NTx was significantly explained by cortisol. Cortisol is said to increase bone-absorption and relate to psychological stress. Not only the decrease of E2 but also increase of cortisol in pre-menopausal women were suggested to accelerate bone-absorption. On the other hand, ASI in seventies was significantly higher than others and adrenaline was significantly higher in seventies. In the country area in Fukushima prefecture, the ratio of elder nuclear families are increasing. They have to prepare against too much snow in winter or other rural problems by themselves. These preparations and copings to keep their daily lives seem to influence the acceleration of arteriosclerosis due to adrenal activation. To keep the healthness of county living elderly women, not only the pharmacological treatements but also systematic aids to their physical and psychological stress and problems are suggested to be very important.

View full abstract

This study examined the attitudes of nurses who provide care to women undergoing induced abortion. The average age of the nurses surveyed was 32.7. Data was obtained by asking for demographic and other basic information (age, job description, years of experience, whether subject owned a manual on abortion care, etc.), then interviewing the subjects by a semi-structured method. The interviews covered the subjects' impressions of cases that presented difficult care-giving problems, specifics on care given in all cases, why the subjects thought problems arose, their reasons for the types of care they give and their thoughts about giving care to women undergoing abortions. The results were analyzed by grouping together similar responses. In this way, ten of the subjects were classified into two categories of consciousness, according to differences in their views of, or attitudes toward the women in their care. One group of nurses was characterized by belief in a need to show their acceptance of women undergoing abortion, the other by avoidance of personal involvement with the women. In providing routine nursing care, the subjects either actively encouraged the women to express their feelings or did not, as long as the women themselves said nothing. The following factors are theorized as influences on these nurses' attitudes : (1) Their personal reactions to abortion cases they have experienced, (2) Attitudes by the women receiving care that can arouse ambivalence on the part of the nurses and (3) Conflict in the nurses' minds over professional ethics and abortion as a bioethical issue.

View full abstract