Inhibitory Effects of Pu-erh Tea Leaves on Mouse Type IV Allergy

Pu-erh tea is one of post fermented tea manufactured through oxidative maturing by microorganisms. We investigated the preventive effects of pu-erh tea extract on oxazolone-induced type IV allergy in male (ICR) mice. Oral administration of 50 mg/kg water extract of pu-erh tea leaves resulted in significant preventive effects against mouse type IV allergy. The hydrophilic Theabrownin-like fraction (TBW-ND), with a high molecular weight of approximately 12,000 or higher, was prepared from pu-erh tea leaves by a solvent-extraction method, followed by Diaion HP-20 column chro-matography and dialysis. Oral and percutaneous administrations of TBW-ND at doses of 18.7 mg/kg and 0.037 mg/ear also resulted in significant preventive effects, which included preventing increases in levels of the proinflam-matory cytokine interleukin-12. The anti-allergic ingredients in TBW-ND were predicted to be highly complex compounds containing of polyphenols, polysaccharides and/or proteins. The results suggest pu-erh tea leaves could be a beneficial food for protecting against delayed-type allergy.

Comparison between Eating Habits Improvement by Using the Caloric-Tofu and Gene Analysis Result—For Young People

The previous paper by Naomi Katayama et al. reported the effect of high caloric-tofu on elderly people. The body composition was improved by elderly people eating high caloric-tofu for 2 months. Elderly people decreased body fat and increased body protein. Therefore, in this research, we decided to investigate young people who can improve body composition by eating high caloric-tofu for 2 months. The twenty-two young people (19 men, 3 women: from age 19 years old to 22 years old) who submitted the written consent of the subject participated in this study. We performed the gene analysis (β3AR, UCP1,β2AR) of the subject. The subject lived a normal life every day. The subject had eaten two caloric-tofu a day. A caloric-tofu has 100 kcal. The subject participated in a study for two months. As for the subject, body composition was measured on the first day and the last day of the study. A result, skeletal muscle rates of fifteen people increased, and a fat rate decreased. However, five people changed into neither the skeletal muscle rate nor the fat rate. People who were effective by this experiment were the people who had variation in β2AR, and people among whom there was not an effect were the people who had variation in UCP1. This experiment had little number of the data, but it was revealed that an intake of the caloric-tofu was more likely to help the reinforcement of the skeletal muscle mass to a participant with the variation in β2AR gene. It will be necessary to increase the number of participants more, and to examine it in detail in future. We also need to investigate a wide range of age groups. We thought in future that an effect might appear by doing nourishment instruction based on a result of the gene analysis.

Results of Body Composition Improvement by High Caloric-Tofu Intake—At the Start of the Experiment, at the End, and Six Months after the End for the Case of Adolescents

The previous paper by Naomi Katayama et al. reported the effect of high caloric-tofu on the young people [1] and elderly people [2]. And the body composition was improved by elderly people and young people eating high caloric-tofu for 2 months. In both paper reports, both participates decreased body fat and increased body protein. Therefore, in this research, we decided to investigate young people who can keep their body composition after six months to stop eating high caloric-tofu. The ten young people (9 male, one female: from age 19 years old to 22 years old) who submitted the written consent of the subject participated in this study. We performed the gene analysis (β3AR, UCP1,β2AR) of the subject. The subject lived a normal life every day. The subject had eaten two caloric-tofu a day. A caloric-tofu has 100 kcal. The subject participated in a study for two months. As for the subject, body composition was measured on the first day and the last day of the study. As a result, skeletal muscle rates of eight people increased slightly, and body fat rate decreased slightly. However, two people did not change neither the skeletal muscle rate nor the fat rate. Body composition of the eight participants who were effective by this experiment was not kept after six months to stop this study. Six months after the end of the intervention for the participants, the body composition became worse. In this study, participants could temporarily change their behavior but could not continue this condition. It will be necessary to increase the number of participants more, and to examine it in detail in future. We also need to investigate a wide range of age groups. We thought in future that an effect might appear by doing nourishment instruction based on a result of the gene analysis.

Changes in the Amount of Ingestion Nutrients in Meals before and after Ingesting High Caloric-Tofu—For Elderly People

As Katayama et al. reported in the past, it has been shown with a 50-70% probability that increases in skeletal muscle rate and decreases in body fat rate will occur in elderly people by taking high caloric-tofu for two months. Participants measured body composition before and after the experiment, and the results were statistically processed to confirm significant differences. Therefore, we decided to clarify how the amount of nutrient intake changed before and after taking high caloric-tofu for two months. The participants self-reported a 3-day meal record before entering the experiment. Similarly, participants performed a self-administered meal intake record for 3 days before the end of the high caloric-tofu intake two months. Food intake recording was performed using nutrition calculation software, and the results were recorded. The nutrition calculation software used the Excel eiyou-kun version 8 manufactured by Kenpaku. The calculated nutrients were 13 items: energy, protein, lipid, carbohydrate, dietary-fiber, calcium, iron, equivalent of retinol, vitamin D, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin C, equivalent of salt. As a result of statistically processing the nutrition of the participants, in both groups (effective group and not effective group) lipid intake increased with statistical significance. However, protein intake did not differ statistically. In the future, it will be necessary to conduct more detailed interviews with many participants.

Comparison of Body Composition Two Months after High Caloric-Tofu Intake and Body Composition Six Months after the Experiment—In the Case of Elderly People

Japan becomes the super aged society. It is expected from now on that the population of the elderly person increases more and more. Therefore, disease prevention such as sarcopenia and frailty in the elderly person is required. This study tried the improvement of meal contents by taking in soy protein using caloric-tofu in daily life. The ten elderly people (one man, 9 women: from age 55 years old to 83 years old) who submitted the written consent of the subject participated in this study. We performed the gene analysis (β3AR, UCP1,β2AR) of the subject. The subject lived a normal life every day. The subject had eaten two high caloric-tofu a day. A caloric-tofu has 100 kcal. The subject participated in a study for two months. As for the subject, body composition was measured on the first day and two months after the start of the experiment, and six months after the end of the experiment. As a result, skeletal muscle rates of five people increased slightly, and body fat rate decreased slightly. However, five people changed into neither the skeletal muscle rate nor the body fat rate. Six months after the end of the experiment, the pair composition results were kept almost the same as at the end of the experiment. It can be highly appreciated that in the effective group, the pair composition could be maintained in a better condition than at the beginning of the experiment. For elderly people, the effective group, it is significant that intake of high caloric-tofu is effective in increasing the rate of skeletal muscle, and the effect is maintained even after half a year.

Relationship between Walking Speed and Exercise Habits of Elderly People

Japan becomes the super aged society. For Japan, the proportion of elderly people aged 65 and over is 27.3%. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare estimates that in 2060, the proportion of the elderly people aged 75 or older to the total population will exceed 26.9%. Japan has nursing problems in a rapidly aging society. Therefore, the long-term care insurance system is being reviewed. The state, prefectures, and local governments are carrying out various campaigns from the perspective of long-term care prevention. One of them is fall prevention. Falling of the elderly often causes bedridden and death. Therefore, in this study, in order to examine the influence of exercise habits of the elderly on gait, the results of questionnaire survey and actual 10 m walking speed were obtained for elderly people who participated in the health class. As a result, walking speed was fast for people with exercise habits. As for exercise, walking speed was faster for those who continued with exercise such as walking than for those who did muscle training. By continuing the light exercise like walking, it might be possible to maintain the muscles of the lower limbs and cultivate a sense of balance or lead to the fall prevention of the elderly.

Processes through Which the Grandparents of a Child with Severe Motor and Intellectual Disabilities (SMID) May Become Involved in Raising the Child

In Japan, it is common practice to involve grandparents in the care of children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities (SMID), as it may be difficult for nuclear families to handle such children by themselves. This study aimed to explore and describe the process through which the grandparents of children with SMID may be involved in their upbringing. Data were obtained via semi-structured interviews with 13 grandparents who had a grandchild with SMID. The collected data were examined using Yasuhito Kinoshita’s modified grounded theory approach. Altogether, 11 categories were identified from 29 themes. The results revealed two broad patterns concerning the nature of the grandparents’ involvement and their definition of grandparenthood in the context of raising a grandchild with SMID. In one process, grandparents supported the child’s family. They also learned to relate to the child and their family, despite experiencing a lack of responsiveness from the child initially. This ultimately resulted in them being inspired by their grandchild. In the other process, the grandparents left the care of their grandchild to the child’s family and chose to monitor the child’s welfare indirectly. In both the processes, the level of involvement was determined by the extent to which the family chose to ask grandparents for help. The study’s findings can be used to identify the kind of support that grandparents of children with SMID require while highlighting the role of considering the needs and intentions of the children’s families.

Comparison of Survey Results on Subjective Dizziness,Hearing and Tinnitus and Stabilometry Test Results in Yakumo Inhabitant Examination Study (Comparison of 2005, 2007 and 2015, 2017)

Abstract: The Nagoya University Hospital otolaryngology department is doing the prospective cohort study in Yakumo-cho, Hokkaido, Japan from 2005, because this place is a little transfer of the population. Most of inhabitants of Yakumo-cho engage in fishery and agriculture as work mainly. We perform questionary survey using an interview vote. The item is “having feeling of dizziness or not”,“quality of hearing” and “having tinnitus or not”. Furthermore, we go for the examination of stabilometry, too. We compared 2015, 2017 with 2005, 2007 among Yakumo-cho inhabitant examination data this time. As a result, participant with a feeling of conscious dizziness got a bad reputation of the hearing consciously. In addition, participant with a feeling of conscious dizziness had tinnitus consciously. Furthermore, the participant with a feeling of conscious dizziness had bad stabilometry result. As a result of having compared ten years later, we understood that stabilometry result worsened if 60s became in 70s with or without a feeling of dizziness consciously. When there is a feeling of conscious dizziness, it is necessary to perform an examination of stabilometry as routine work. In addition, it is necessary to inspect stabilometry if participants have the bad hearing or tinnitus with a feeling of dizziness in particularly.

Comparison of Inspection Data by Difference in Odour Inspection Kit (Including Results of Young and Old Age)

The present study examined the relationship between olfactory function for ten years. A personal function test was calculated from the Nagoya Women’s University study database, and the odor stick identification test and open essence identification test were administered to healthy young and elderly people. The participants were community dwellers who voluntarily participated in the Nagoya Women’s University Study and had managed everyday life by themselves. We combined data of 2018 and checked two kinds of the olfactometry result. These data were made from a consultation result list which was handed to a testee by hand. The test age was in his/her 80s from 40s and in his/her 20s from 10s. The data were compared according to the generation (young age is 20.1 ± 0.7 years old and old age is 74.5 ± 10.0 years old). We conducted two kinds of olfaction tests. The Odour Stick Identification Test (OSIT-J) was used to assess odour perception. This test possesses high reliability and validity. The OSIT-J includes 12 different odorants to be identified. The Odour Essence Identification Test was used to assess odour perception, too. It also includes 12 different odorants to be identified. We compared the answer of generation and compared the results of the two olfactory tests. As a result, there were no statistically significant differences in the total number of correct answers in young people and old people in the two olfactory test results. In addition, we compare young people and old people who increased the number of correct answer in the two kinds of olfactory examination, the same person, and those who decreased, but there was no statistically significant difference. However, there were statistically significant differences between India ink and perfume and Household (domestic) gas compared with young people and old people with two kinds of olfactory test results. From the results of this study, it was found that the results of two kinds of olfactory test can be used together as a research result for the result of correct answer rate number. However, it became clear that careful handing is necessary for individual smell.