Depression is a mental problem in elderly dental patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between oral status and depressive symptoms among elderly patients. The ...authors assessed depressive symptoms among dental patients with Zung's Self Rating Depression Scale (SDS). Subjects were 220 patients (88 men and 132 women, average age 74.5yr) who visited the Gerodontic Clinic of Tokyo Medical and Dental University. The cut-off point for depression in a geriatric population is 48. A factor analysis was done, and four factors were obtained: quality of life (QOL), depressive mood, instability of emotion and sociability. The results were as follows: 1. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 5.9%. 2. The SDS and depressive mood scores were significantly higher in women than in men. 3. The SDS and QOL scores were significantly higher in upper edentulous patients than in other patients. 4. The SDS and QOL scores were significantly higher in upper complete denture wearers than in other patients. The results suggested that residual teeth are important for good life of the elderly.
It is important to understand the mental states of erderly patients in their dental treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between oral status, masticatory function ...and intelligence level in elderly patients. Subjects were 37 outpatients among those who visited the Gerodontic Clinic at Tokyo Medical and Dental University. Twenty-seven patients (average age 76.4 yrs) had both upper and lower full dentures, and 10 patients (average age 76.9 yrs) had occlusal contacts with the remaining teeth in their molar region. Dental examinations which includes recording of the number of residual teeth and centric stops were performed. Each patient's masticatory ability was estimated by the standardized questionnaire which was based on the patients' subjective response in masticating 100 different kinds of food. Both the edentulous and the partially edentulous patient groups were evaluated and compared using Okabe's simplified intelligence scales and Hasegawa's dementia rating scale. The results were as follows: 1. There was no relationship between patient's edentulous/partially edentulous status and their intelligence level. 2. There was no relationship between patient's masticatory ability and their intelligence level.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between mental aspects and oral status among elderly dental patients. The subjects were 302 patients (126 males and 176 females, average ...age 74.4 yr) who visited the Gerodontic Clinic of Tokyo Medical and Dental University. The psychological test used in this study was the Cornell Medical Index (CMI) Health Questionnaire. The subjects were classified into four categories according to the CMI: Category I (diagnosed to be normal), category II (provisionally diagnosed to be normal), category III (provisionally diagnosed to be neurotic) and category IV (diagnosed to be neurotic). The results were as follows: 1. CMI category distributions were 50.8% of the males and 35.8% of the females in category I, while 3.2% and 9.7% in category N respectively. 2. The number of the residual teeth showed a tendency to be smaller in the subjects classified as category IV than in the other categories. 3. The distribution of category N was higher in upper complete denture wearers than in upper partial denture wearers and subjects who wore no upper denture. The results suggested that it is important to diagnose the mental state inclusive of neurotic tendency as well as physical state among elderly dental patients in dental treatment.
Infection of mice with Mycobacterium bovis BCG sensitizes them for immune induction of interferon (IFN)-gamma by specific antigen. These mice were found also to respond to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) ...and concanavalin A (Con A) with high level production of IFN-gamma in the circulation, which was not observed in control mice. In this study, we compared the IFN-gamma response to LPS with that to Con A in an attempt to clarify the cellular mechanisms responsible for in vivo LPS-induced IFN-gamma production. Consequently, (i) the responses to LPS and Con A differed in the kinetics, that to LPS having a longer lag period. (ii) Spleen cells taken from infected mice produced little IFN-gamma in response to LPS, but they showed a higher IFN-gamma response to Con A than those from control mice. (iii) By treating infected mice with immunosuppressive drugs or antibodies to T and natural killer cells before challenge with the inducers, it was indicated that different cellular systems are involved in the IFN-gamma responses to LPS and to Con A.
CS-905 is a potent dihydropyridine Ca antagonist that has a gradual and long-lasting antihypertensive action with little tachycardia in SHR (Jpn. J. Pharmacol., 46, 265P, 1988). In this study, we ...investigated chronic and acute effects of CS-905 on renal functions in SHR. To examine chronic effects, 23 week-old male SHR were treated with CS-905 (1 and 3 mg/kg/day, p.o.) or 0.3% CMC. After 15 weeks of treatment, the agent dose-relatedly lowered systolic blood pressure measured 24 hr after the final administration (184±2 and 173±3 mmHg at 1 and 3 mg/kg/day vs 218±4 mmHg for the control group). Natriuresis and the reduction of urinary protein excretion were also observed in the CS-905 treated groups. Urinary NAG (N-acetyl-β-D-glucosamindase) activity tended to decrease, but not significantly. On a single oral administration in 39 week old SHR, CS-905 caused natriuresis at a dose of 3 mg/kg, but did not affect urinary protein excretion and urinary NAG activity. These results suggest that both acute and chronic administrations of CS-905 increase urinary sodium and water excretion and that only the chronic administration reduces urinary protein excretion. These effects of CS-905 on renal functions would be beneficial in antihypertensive therapy.
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