Internal medicine
-
The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of vitamin D deficiency in Japanese postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes mellitus. ⋯ Our results showed an alarmingly high incidence of vitamin D deficiency in Japanese women with type 2 diabetes mellitus, with a risk of radial bone osteoporosis, particularly in those patients with a serum 25(OH)D level of <18.5 ng/mL.
-
The aim of this study was to clarify the indications for oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT) in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) subjects with a HbA1c level of ≤6.4%, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) level of <126 mg/dL and no history of diabetes. ⋯ NAFLD subjects with IFG and an HbA1c level of 5.7-6.4% should undergo OGTT in order to determine whether they have diabetes and/or abnormal insulin dynamics.
-
In Japan, reducing the consumption of miso soup and Japanese pickles, both traditional Japanese dishes, is recommended in order to decrease dietary salt intake. With the Westernization of dietary habits, however, these dishes are now consumed less frequently, and thus a reduction in their effect on sodium intake is suspected. This study examined cross-sectional associations between the frequency of intake of miso soup and Japanese pickles and the estimated 24-hour urine sodium excretion using data obtained from health examination surveys conducted in 2013 in Sado City, Japan. ⋯ These findings suggest that reducing the consumption of miso soup and Japanese pickles may be an effective approach for decreasing the level of dietary salt intake in the general Japanese population, although not in octogenarians or nonagenarians.
-
Rituximab treatment may cause or exacerbate Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated multicentric Castleman's disease. Despite the widespread use of rituximab, rituximab-induced KS has not yet been reported in HIV-negative patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). ⋯ Our observations indicate that serious infections under rituximab treatment may trigger KS. KS should therefore be considered when skin tumors appear in lymphoma patients receiving rituximab-containing chemotherapy.
-
Pegylated-interferon/ribavirin (peg-IFN/RBV) therapy with a protease inhibitor is the standard therapy for genotype 1b chronic hepatitis C. Despite improving treatment outcomes, patients with thrombocytopenia are often difficult to treat because interferon commonly exacerbates thrombocytopenia. In this study, partial splenic embolization (PSE) was performed in patients with hypersplenism-induced thrombocytopenia to determine the effectiveness of this method as a potential treatment. ⋯ PSE, in conjunction with triple combination therapy, is a useful and safe method to treat genotype 1b chronic hepatitis C patients with hypersplenism-induced thrombocytopenia.