Aim : We examined the relationship between serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level and lifestyle habits among Japanese junior high school students.
Methods : Between April 2006 and March 2009, we conducted a cross-sectional study of 1064 Japanese junior high school students (570 boys and 494 girls, aged 12.1 to 15.0 years) who had annual school health examinations in Nagano Prefecture. They were divided into 4 groups according to HDL-C quartiles.
Results : There was a significant increase in the ratio of waist circumference to body height, percentage of being overweight, triglyceride, non-HDL-C, the ratio of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol to HDL-C, and uric acid in the lowest quartile of HDL-C compared with the highest quartile in both genders. Fasting plasma glucose was also significantly increased in the lowest quartile compared with the highest quartile in boys. With regard to lifestyle habits, the ratios of the students who were often commuting to and from school by car, did not like exercise, did not do sports outside of school, and watched television during meals were significantly higher in the lowest quartile of HDL-C compared with the highest quartile in both genders.
Conclusions : Serum HDL-C level was associated with reduced daily physical activity among junior high school students. This study may provide insights into the role of HDL-C in the school screening system for the development of more effective educational programs on the prevention of lifestyle-related diseases in the Japanese population of school children.

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The Intractable Disease Care Center, Shinshu University Hospital, has performed house-call medical care for patients with intractable disease since June 2009. The aim of this project is to provide appropriate suggestions for both patients and families to reduce their anxiety in home-care, to increase their motivation in nursing care, and to support primary care doctors and home-care supporters such as home-care nurses or care managers. In this study, we conducted a questionnaire investigation on 87 patients, 126 home-care supporters and 63 primary care doctors to examine the effect of the house-call medical care for two years. The results showed that careful and prolonged care has given higher satisfaction for the patients and families, and confidence and increased motivation for home-care supporters. Providing medical information has been helpful for primary care doctors. At the same time, requests for the promotion of collaboration with primary care doctors or supporters, the necessity of regular visits, and activation of public relations have been raised. We also found some improvements for our project through this investigation.

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We report our experience with laparoscopic adrenalectomy in 202 cases (mean age 53 years). We experienced primary aldosteronism in 73 cases, Cushingʼs syndrome in 72 cases, pheochromocytoma in 38 cases and another tumor in 19 cases. The operation time for primary aldosteronism was significantly short compared with the other tumors. The ratio of pheochromocytoma in operations was increased in the recent 101 cases. The rate of open conversion was decreased from 5.9% in the first 101 cases to 2.0% in the recent 101 cases. Laparoscopic adrenalectomy has become a safe and standard technique for adrenal gland tumors, and the number of cases suited to this procedure is expected to increase in the future.

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