Eiko Kaneda

Comprehensive geriatric assessment for community-dwelling elderly in Asia compared with those in Japan: IV. Savannakhet in Laos

Background:  The objective of the present study is to compare the findings of comprehensive geriatric assessments (CGA) of community‐dwelling elderly people living in Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (Laos) with those in Japan.

Central and Peripheral Control of Sweating Mechanisms: Modifications by Thermal Acclimatization and Physical Training

Sweating is a heat loss response that is critical for improved physical performance and safety in extremely hot conditions. It is centrally regulated by the preoptic area and anterior hypothalamus and peripherally transmitted by sympathetic sudomotor innervation, with acetylcholine (ACh) as the primary neuroglandular transmitter. Modification of sweating activity through heat exposure or physical training is a physiological tactic for improved tolerance when individuals are challenged with exogenous or endogenous heat. A short-term heat challenge produces a lower resting and slower increase in body temperature as well as enhanced sweating response, while long-term heat exposure results in decreased sweat output. Cold acclimation results in reduced thermoneutral and skin temperatures, lowered cold sensation, and reduced metabolic heat production. Physical training induces higher sweat output by means of greater sweat output per activated sweat gland, a shorter lag phase for sweating, an increased number of activated sweat glands, and a higher rate of skin blood flow.

Analysis of sweating induced by VIP iontophoresis in human skin

Abstract In human skin transplanted to the back of three strains of immuno-deficient mice, the function of sweat glands of the human transplant was tested by intradermal application of pilocarpine, adrenaline, atropine+pilocarpine and VIP Sweat responses were observed in the former three substances, not VIP. Therefore, to re-examine the negative results on VIP, interactions of the sudomotor axon reflex (AXR) with putative local mediators were studied by drug iontophoresis. The state of thermoregulation seems to modulate the action of VIP as a possible co-transmitter facilitating AXR by raising skin temperature. The underlying VIP-induced vasodilation may involve both sudomotor and sensory axon reflex mechanisms.