The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the level of emotion, quality of life (QOL) and stress improve in participants in a YOSAKOI SORAN dance festival in Hokkaido during practice and the festival. There are no symptoms of overtraining in either the T-scores of each emotion or the total mood score of Profile of Mood States (POMS) in participants in YOSAKOI SORAN for the four months while they practiced the dance. The results of Mood Check-List Short Form 1 (MCL-S.1) show that the score of pleasantness significantly increased just after, compared to just before the dance practice in the 5th, 15th and 25th day of the dance practice. The score of relaxation just after the practice is higher than the score of just before in the 15th and 25th day of the dance practice, and the relaxation level of participants in YOSAKOI SORAN is lower than that of the control group. The scores of anxiety do not change significantly. The results of Mental Health Pattern (MHP) to evaluate QOL and stress level show that the scores of mental and social stress after the festival in participants are lower than before the dance practice period. Participation in practice and the festival of YOSAKOI SORAN is suggested as being effective for promoting emotional wellness and mental health of persons who live in the northern part of Japan.

View full abstract

The clinical effects of carbon dioxide bathing have been investigated repeatedly over many decades, mainly in Europe. However, studies on its actions and the mechanisms have not been fully studied. This study planned to elucidate the effects of highly concentration carbon dioxide bathing on various body functions, using the data of blood count and blood biochemistry, which are commonly used in daily medical examinations. Subjects were ten aged persons (2 males and 8 females, 81.4±6.3 years), who were visiting a geriatric intermediate care facility. Each subject immersed their lower legs in carbon dioxid-rich water (800–1000 ppm) at 40–41°C more than twice a week for 3 months. They had no experience of carbon dioxide bathing before this experiment. The significant increases in white blood cell number, hemoglobin concentration, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration and total protein concentration were observed after a 3 month carbon dioxide bathing. These results indicate the effect of carbon dioxide bathing on various body functions.

View full abstract

The purpose of this study is to clarify the relationships between changes in chest skin blood flow (SBF) and cooling area (%) during skin cooling using water-perfused suit. One woman subject was kept at rest in the supine posture in a climatic chamber of 30.0±0.5°C, 50±3% of relative humidity and air velocity of 0.2 m/sec. Skin coolings were performed on the following six areas (regions) separately. They were 7% (one arm), 14% (both arms), 16% (one leg), 32% (both legs), 35% (trunk) and 46% (extremities) of body surface area. Suit set temperature was initially maintained at 33°C for 30 min, then the temperatures in cooling regions were lowered to 24°C by every 3°C for 30 min each, and the temperatures in non-cooling regions were kept at 33°C constant. Regression line showing the relationships between cooling area (x) and chest SBF (y) was as follows: y=−0.37x+13.58. From these results, as it showed positive value in the range of lower than 37% in the regression line, it was observed that chest SBF was increased below 37% of the cooling area during skin cooling at 24°C of the suit set temperature.

View full abstract

In this study, we clarified regional tendency of heat disorders in Japan. Generally, heat disorders occur in daytime, especially intensively high-temperature period, but it could be thought that the population movement has some influences on the occurrence of heat disorders. Frequent difference of heat disorders is remarkable over 34°C in all Japan, while the frequencies are highest in northern Japan, next higher in eastern Japan and western Japan under the same temperature. Briefly, there is found the frequency differences between western and eastern Japan even under the same climatic condition. In the case of the aged person, the effect of discomfort index is larger over 60 years old.

View full abstract