Because hypertension causes end-organ damage and cardiovascular disease, proper treatment is extremely important to prevent progression. Secondary and essential hypertension, respectively, are classified by whether the specific etiology is known or unknown. Secondary hypertension includes renal parenchymal hypertension, renovascular hypertension, and endocrine hypertension, among others. In essential hypertension, genetic and environmental factors and adaptations to neural, mechanical, and hormonal perturbations interact to raise blood pressure. In many cases of secondary hypertension, blood pressure can be effectively reduced by treating the etiology. Therefore, it is important to identify secondary hypertension. In patients with essential hypertension, treatment consists of lifestyle modification and appropriate drug therapy, with use of calcium channel blockers, angiotensin-receptor blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, diuretics, and β blockers. Indications, contraindications, potential complications, and conditions that require the careful use of drugs must be considered. Although significant progress has been made in the treatment of hypertension, management is still often inadequate. Development of more effective treatments will result in improvements in quality of life and prognosis for patients with hypertension.

A 26-year-old man, with 1-month respiratory distress, experienced sudden aggravation, leading to an ambulance call. On arrival, his breathing had arrested because of CO₂ narcosis. Mandatory ventilation restored breathing. He was admitted to the intensive care unit. Despite mechanical ventilation and antibiotics for possible pneumonia, his respiratory condition deteriorated. Acute respiratory distress syndrome was diagnosed. Steroid pulse therapy was administered for three days. His respiratory condition gradually improved. On Hospital Day 13, he was extubated and could be interviewed for medical history and undergo neurological examinations. On Hospital Day 19, antiacetylcholine receptor antibody was positive and myasthenia gravis (MG) was diagnosed. On Hospital Day 20, oral drugs were initiated for MG. On Hospital Day 30, he was discharged in remission. He has since been treated at our outpatient clinic. Myasthenic crisis is a serious pathological condition in which myasthenic symptoms affecting respiratory muscles suddenly worsen respiratory conditions, resulting in respiratory failure. However, MG rarely presents with respiratory failure as an initial symptom. Although medical history taking and neurological examinations are difficult in patients intubated or sedated, MG must be considered among the differential diagnoses of respiratory failure in these patients.

The patient was a 34-year-old male scheduled for submucous resection of the nasal septum and inferior nasal concha. Shortly after the administration of 2 g piperacillin to prevent postoperative infection, he suffered a sudden cardiovascular collapse (systolic blood pressure 44 mmHg, heart rate 93 beats per minute, 87 % SpO₂). At first, we considered this was caused by vasodilator effects from the anesthetic and we administered phenylephrine, which did not stabilize his hemodynamic status. In addition, erythema developed on his thigh. Because we suspected anaphylactic shock, anesthetic drugs were discontinued immediately and resuscitative treatment began. A diagnosis of anaphylactoid reaction was confirmed from blood tests that showed normal non-specific IgE antibody levels, low serum complement, high plasma histamine, and high plasma tryptase. Although an intradermal test revealed a positive reaction to piperacillin, we could not totally rule out other drugs that might have been involved in the reaction. Subsequently, the operation was performed uneventfully under local anesthesia.

The patient was an 80-year-old woman. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy showed an esophageal squamous papilloma, involving up to one-third of the circumference of the esophagus and ranging from the lower esophagus to the cardia. The patient was administered a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) and Coix seed orally to reduce the lesion size and reflux esophagitis. Biannual upper gastrointestinal endoscopy showed that the esophageal squamous papilloma had markedly shrunk, and 21 months after initiation of treatment, the lesion had disappeared. Our search of Japanese literature yielded no previous reports on the treatment effects of oral PPI and Coix seed for esophageal squamous papilloma. We consider this case as important because we successfully followed up the patient after treatment.

The "Professional Training Plan in Cancer Medicine" was established for approximately 5 years, from April 2012 until September 2016, at the Graduate Division of Health Sciences in Komazawa University. This plan can be broadly divided into the following three projects that aimed to develop human resources. In the first project, medical physics experts were trained, so that radiation therapy can be properly and safely carried out for cancer patients. The second project established to develop imaging experts who can support oncological image interpretation for practical physician, so that accurate and prompt diagnosis of cancer can be performed. The third project aimed to train human resources who are responsible for the 21st century medical solutions involved in remote imaging diagnosis and image transfer system. Herein, we outline the importance of medical physicists in radiation oncology, and we concretely explain the contents of the medical physicist training, as supported by the "Professional Training Plan in Cancer Medicine".

Medical physicists form an indispensable part of human resource working with radiation oncologist to perform advanced radiotherapy. The author K. Karasawa, who, as a radiation oncologist, recognized the importance of education and training medical physicists, was appointed as the chairperson of the Department of Radiation Oncology at our University in April, 2015. She has also been appointed as one of the coordinators of the cancer professionals training program. The first educational course of the cancer professionals training program, initiated in June 2015 for science and engineering students, was an intensive course in "The introduction of medicine for medical physics". Subsequently, a second intensive course "Science/engineering subjects supplementary course" was introduced for students and alumni radiation technicians. Professor Karasawa has involved assistant professors working in the Department of Radiation Oncology and specializing in medical physics in her efforts towards medical physics education. In the FY 2016, it will be possible to introduce four more intensive educational courses thanks to the cancer professionals training program subsidy that will be used for maintaining the equipment required for the training purposes. In November 2016, the Medical Physics Department of the Graduate School of Medicine was established by Professor Nishio.