Mieko Iwamoto

Prevalence and risk factors of urinary incontinence and its influence on the quality of life of Japanese women

Urinary incontinence is a common problem as women age. The aims of this study were to assess the prevalence and risk factors of urinary incontinence and their impact on the quality of life of working Japanese women. In this cross-sectional study, 975 women completed the Urogenital Distress Inventory-6, the Short Form (SF)-36 Health Survey, and the Kings Health Questionnaire. Their mean age was 47.6 years and the reported prevalence of stress, urge, and mixed urinary incontinence symptoms during the past month was 19.3%, 4.2%, and 7.8%, respectively. The prevalence rate of all the three types of incontinence increased with age and Body Mass Index. There was no significant difference in the questionnaire subscale scores of the SF-36 Health Survey and the Kings Health Questionnaire between these types and those without urinary incontinence. However, in relation to the SF-36 scores, we found that urge urinary incontinence had more effect on women than stress urinary incontinence. There was a high prevalence of urinary incontinence in the participants. The results emphasize the need for women to be provided with education programs about incontinence and to perform preventive exercises.

Evaluation of the Effect of Heat Exposure on the Autonomic Nervous System by Heart Rate Variability and Urinary Catecholamines

Evaluation of the Effect of Heat Exposure on the Autonomic Nervous System by Heart Rate Variability and Urinary Catecholamines: Shinji Yamamoto, et al. Department of Hygiene, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine—The aim of this study was to investigate the usefulness of heart rate variability (HRV) and urinary catecholamines (CA) as objective indices of heat stress effect. We examined physiological responses, subjective symptoms, HRV and urinary CA to evaluate the effect of heat exposure on the autonomic nervous system. Six healthy male students volunteered for this study. They were exposed on different days to either a thermoneutral condition at wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) 21°C, or a heated condition at WBGT 35°C for 30 min, while seated on a chair. In the thermoneutral condition, differences of all parameters between the values before and after 30 min exposure were not statistically significant. In the heated condition, heart rate, body temperature and scores for subjective symptoms (feverishness, sweating, mood, and face flushing) significantly increased after 30 min exposure (p<0.05). Also, the high frequency component (HF%) of HRV significantly decreased and the low frequency/high frequency (LF/ HF) ratio of HRV significantly increased after 30 min exposure to the heated condition (p<0.05). There were no significant differences between the amounts of urinary CA before and after the 30 min exposures; however, the norepinephrine amount after 30 min exposure to the heated condition was significantly greater than that of the thermoneutral condition (p<0.05). The heat exposure (WBGT 35°C) induced activation of the sympathetic nervous system and a withdrawal of the parasympathetic nervous system. These findings coincide with observed changes of heart rate, body temperature and subjective symptoms. It is suggested that HRV (HF% and LF/HF ratio) and urinary norepinephrine may be useful objective indices of heat stress; HRV seems to be more sensitive to heat stress than urinary CA.

Heart Rate Variation and Urinary Catecholamine Excretion in Response to Acute Psychological Stress in Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome Patients

Heart Rate Variation and Urinary Catecholamine Excretion in Response to Acute Psychological Stress in Hand‐Arm Vibration Syndrome Patients: M. Shawkatuzzaman Laskar, et al. Department of Hygiene, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine—The aim of this study was to evaluate heart rate variation and urinary catecholamines in response to acute psychological stress in hand‐arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) patients and healthy controls. LF% (indicator of both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous activity), HF% (indicator of the parasympathetic nervous activity) and their ratio LF/HF (indicator of sympathovagal balance) were calculated from short‐term electrocardiographic data from 16 HAVS patients and 14 healthy controls before and immediately after exposure to acute psychological stress. Urinary catecholamines (norepinephrine, epinephrine and dopamine) were analyzed from urine samples collected from every subject during rest and after exposure. The LF% and LF/HF of the patients significantly increased after exposure. The after exposure LF/HF of the patients was significantly greater than that of the controls. The amount of norepinephrine in the patients significantly increased after exposure. The after exposure amount of norepinephrine and epinephrine in the patients were significantly greater than the respective amount of the controls. The results of the present study indicated the predominance of sympathetic tone in the cardiac sympathovagal balance and greater sensitivity of the sympathoadrenal medullary system in response to acute psychological stress in the patients than in the healthy controls.

Urinary excretion of aluminium: effects of aging and diurnal variation.

Aluminium (Al) is neurotoxic and a relationship between Alzheimers disease (AD) and Al in drinking water has been suggested in epidemiological studies. In 5 patients with AD, and healthy subjects of whom 5 were aged, 6 were middle-aged and 6 were young adults, Al excretion into the urine was measured using inductively coupled plasma emission spectro-analysis. In healthy subjects, there appeared to be a relationship between age and daily Al excretion, with the highest level in the aged group, followed by the middle-aged and young adult groups. A significant positive correlation between the amount of urine and the Al excretion in the healthy subjects was also observed. Daily A1 excretion in urine in the group of patients with AD tended to be higher than that of the age matched healthy group, but further studies are needed to account for effects of drugs containing Al compounds. The Al excretion in all the groups showed some variation with the time of day, but no definite diurnal variation common to all the subjects was noted. Because of this, the use of spot urine analysis for studying A1 excretion does not seem to be reliable.

A Comparison of Blood Pressure Changes in Phacoemulsification Surgery with Topical and Retrobulbar Block Local Anesthesia: Part II

Although we recently compared blood pressure (BP) changes during cataract surgery between groups that received topical and retrobulbar block anesthesia, a study has not been conducted in which patients were matched for age and sex. To draw more meaningful conclusions, we conducted an age- and sex-matched study in which the daily, pre- and postoperative blood pressures of 1,398 cataract patients were compared. All surgeries were performed using the same method of phacoemulsification and aspiration with intraocular lens implantation under local anesthesia. The postoperative BPs of the retrobulbar injection group decreased significantly more than the topical application group. Even when the patients were hypertensive, the postoperative BPs decreased. Following retrobulbar block anesthesia, the BP decreased postoperatively to a greater extent than after topical anesthesia.

The plasma cyclic-AMP response to noise in humans and rats—short-term exposure to various noise levels

Abstract Rats were exposed to short-term noise which was found to activate the hypothalamohypophyseal-adrenal system and result in a decrease of adrenal ascorbic acid (AAA) and an increase of serum corticosterone (SCS). The threshold limit value lay between 60 and 70 dB(A). To characterize better the effect of noise on the human hypothalamo-hypophyseal-adrenal system, a large group of subjects was exposed to short-term noise at 85 dB(A) and higher, and tested for levels of adrenocortical steroid (cortisol) and anterior pituitary hormones such as ACTH, growth hormone (GH) and prolactin (PRL). Results in humans showed hyperfunction of the hypothalamo-pituitary system. However, as the responses in rats and humans differed, a further experiment was performed using C-AMP, a second messenger mediating many of the effects of a variety of hormones. Plasma C-AMP in humans and rats increased significantly after exposure to noise greater than 70 dB(A). We suggest that plasma C-AMP could be useful as a sensitive index for noise-related stress in the daily living environment of humans and rats.

Effect of Hospitalization on Urinary Catecholamine Excretion in Patients with Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome

Effect of Hospitalization on Urinary Catecholamine Excretion in Patients with Hand‐Arm Vibration Syndrome: Mieko Iwamoto, et al. Department of Hygiene, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine—The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of hospitalization for five weeks on the autonomic nervous activity of patients with hand‐arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). Urine samples were collected from ten patients with HAVS before, during, and after hospitalization. Amounts of urinary free catecholamines (norepinephrine, epinephrine and dopamine) were measured. Urinary excretion of norepinephrine and dopamine during hospitalization was significantly lower than that before hospitalization. The effect of hospitalization continued for 10 days after hospitalization. The results of this study suggest that hospitalization is useful for the treatment of patients with HAVS to reduce the sympathetic hyperactivity.