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Biomedical subjects

Hisako Watanabe

Publications and source records attributed to Hisako Watanabe.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Research on promotion of management of children with psychosomatic and psychosocial disorders in Japan.

BACKGROUND: The number of children with psychosomatic and psychosocial disorders has been increasing in Japan. There are, however, few trained pediatricians who have adequate knowledge of the treatment needed. The Research Group on the Promotion of Management of Children with Psychosomatic and Psychosocial Disorders carried out the present study to (i) disseminate knowledge about psychosomatic and psychosocial disorders of children; and (ii) establish a community-based network model to ensure effective communication among relevant institutions. METHODS: To disseminate knowledge of the psychosocial and psychosomatic disorders, the Research Group compiled the Handbook for Psychosomatic Disorders of Children and distributed it to pediatricians throughout Japan. A follow-up questionnaire survey was then carried out. Also, in order to examine the current status of the communication network between pediatricians and the related institutions, the Research Group conducted a questionnaire survey on general pediatricians. RESULTS: Sixty-five percent of the respondents indicated that they were actually using the Handbook. The topics in the Handbook that were most frequently referred to by the respondents were attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, school refusal, eating disorders, and orthostatic dysregulation. Thirty-seven percent of the participants indicated changes in their behavior towards psychosomatic and psychosocial problems. The results of the survey on communication networks found that the pediatricians generally collaborated with different institutions depending on the nature of the problems, such as school refusal and bullying, developmental disorders, child abuse and maltreatment, and others. CONCLUSION: Promotion of the Handbook would greatly contribute to improving the management of children with psychosomatic and psychosocial disorders, together with the construction of the basic network model for management of these children.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

[Interrelationship among factors associated with drinking behaviors in dental students].

We analyzed the Kurihama Alcoholism Screening Test (KAST), the Adolescent Alcohol Involvement Scale (AAIS), the Fagerstroem Tolerance Questionnaire (FTQ), the Tokyo University ALDH2-Phenotype Screening Test (TAST), results of ethanol patch tests, the presence or absence of a smoking habit, and gender by "Hayashi's quantification theory, type II" in 415 senior students (232 males and 183 females) of a dental college between 2000 and 2003, and evaluated their relationships. When drinking education is given to dental students, both the prevention of acute alcohol intoxication by chugging and the prevention of alcohol dependence in students with drinking behavior suggesting this tendency are necessary. For acute alcohol intoxication, attention can be aroused in students with positive ethanol patch tests. However, there is no definite instruction method for the prevention of alcohol dependence. Therefore, we analyzed the relationships among drinking, smoking, and constitution based on data obtained during the 4 years when the above 3 types of surveys were performed. Plotting of the results of analysis showed that the students can be classified by the ethanol patch test and TAST into those with "alcohol-sensitive" constitution and those with "alcohol-tolerant" constitution. Most problem drinkers were "alcohol-tolerant". KAST showed plotting along the constitution axis from "normal drinking group" to "problem drinking borderline group" but a change in the angle to an L shape at the transfer point from "problem drinking borderline group" to "problem drinking group", showing more serious states along the smoking axis. These results suggest that drinking behavior is first regulated by alcohol- sensitive or alcohol-tolerate constitution, and alcohol-tolerate students with a smoking habit have alcohol dependence tendency, and tend to show serious problem drinking. Improvement in the drinking habit is necessary in alcohol-tolerate students with a smoking habit so that they will not develop alcohol dependence.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

[Mother-infant mental health from viewpoint of relationship disturbance].

Infants can adapt themselves and their relationship with their caregivers in a way incomparable to any other stage in life. Infants are innately motivated to communicate with people and to actively take part in human social interaction. The question is how to provide an environment that facilitates such potentials for each particular infant and its family. Japan strove to improve the physical aspect of maternal and infant care after the second World War and yielded a nation-wide perinatal and infant screening system that produced a world minimum infant mortality rate and more than 80% compliance rate of infant checkups. Instead, infant abuse and infants with development disorders and psychosomatic symptoms has alerted the professionals to improve their approach. In addition, the increasing incidence of child abuse, juvenile crimes, eating disorders and other emotional and behavioral problems of children and adolescents has alerted the government and public to reconsider the importance of early intimate relationship. Creating a secure base for families to enjoy nurturing companionship with their infants is now common goal of infant mental health in Japan. As professionals we try to introduce a more dynamic, natural, non-judgmental empathic approach to support troubled infant care-giving systems. Whichever problem an infant may suffer, whether a problem of body or mind, its mother is bound to suffer and much more so in Japan with its old values for divine motherhood, stigmas associated with abnormality and new demands for perfect mothering. It should be acknowledged more and more that a well-meant effort on the side of infant workers cannot yield beneficial outcomes for mothers and infants unless we take into full account the importance of the complex intertwining of diverse factors, including the infant's predisposition, the mother's upbringing and past trauma and quality of the attachment system supporting the mother and family interaction. It is here that an urgent need to introduce infant mental health exists. Health professionals exchange, having shown their clinical attitudes and knowledge to their trainees, mutual nurturing companionship among workers, infants and families, which is the spirit of infant mental health. The dawn of infant mental health is steadily breaking in Japan.

Child Rearing↗
PubMed2002

Human alkaline phosphatase expression and secretion into chicken eggs after in vivo gene electroporation in the oviduct of laying hens.

In vivo gene electroporation was used to examine whether or not a recombinant protein is synthesized in the chicken oviduct and subsequently secreted into eggs. A plasmid DNA containing a secretion form of the human alkaline phosphatase gene was injected into mucosa of the chicken magnum. Immediately, in vivo gene electroporation was conducted. The human alkaline phosphatase activity in the oviduct mucosa increased and reached its peak at 2 days posttransfection, followed by a sharp decrease to a negligible level at 4 days posttransfection. In the egg white, the alkaline phosphatase activity showed a similar change to that in the magnum mucosa except for a delay of 4 days. The present results imply that in vivo gene electroporation method in the oviduct may serve as a rapid production system of recombinant proteins into chicken eggs.

Adenoviridae↗
PubMed2002

Psychosomatic disorders in children: an emerging challenge to health care in Japan.

BACKGROUND: Japan has been witnessing a considerable rise in the number of children presenting with psychosomatic disorders. Thus, there is a mounting demand for pediatricians to be trained in the caring of children with psychosomatic disorders. METHOD: A questionnaire based-survey was conducted to investigate the average number of working hours for the first year (Postgraduate Year 1 (PGY1)) pediatric residents at Keio University Hospital. The same survey was conducted retrospectively with doctors with at least 10 years of experience in child health care. Another survey was conducted at our 27 affiliated hospitals with respect to the number of outpatients and patients presenting with psychosomatic disorders. RESULTS: The survey showed that, in the ward for preschool and school-age children, PGY1 residents spent on average 78.9 h per week. Time required for care of psychosomatic disorders was more than 30% of the total amount of time allotted for information acquisition, interviews and consultations, as well as conferences and discussions. There was virtually no time spent on the care for psychosomatic disorders in our pediatric residency program 10 years ago. It is an implication of the survey that the apparent number of patients with psychosomatic problems is not dependent on the size or location of the hospital. CONCLUSION: General pediatricians will be spending more time than ever before in the caring of children with psychosomatic disorders. Moreover, pediatricians trained for child health care for psychosomatic disorders are short of supply or non-existent, even in the major affiliated hospitals.

Child↗
PubMed2002

[Relationship between ethanol patch test and problem drinkers among dental students].

In 2000 and 2001, we carried out a drinking habit survey and the Ethanol Patch Test on 232 fourth-year dental students (128 males, 104 females). The results were statistically analyzed. For the survey, the students were asked to fill out, anonymously, the forms of the Tokyo-University ALDH2-Phenotype Screening Test (TAST), the Kurihama Alcoholism Screening Test (KAST), and the Adolescent Alcohol Involvement Scale (AAIS). The results of the subsequent Ethanol Patch test were evaluated by the students themselves. The Patch test demonstrated that 44.5% of males and 49.0% of females were positive to the test or ALDH2 deficient, the rest having the marker substance. According to the TAST results, ALDH2-deficient or TAST-positive (alcohol-intolerant) subjects accounted for 48.4% of males and 51.9% of females, the rest being ALDH2-present or TAST-negative students. Among the Patch test-positive group, the ratio of problem drinkers according to the KAST was 8.8% in males and 2.0% in females. The corresponding figures for the test-negatives group were; 22.5% in males; 7.5% in females, being higher than those for the test-positive group. Among the test-positive group, the ratio of problem drinkers scoring at least 42 points on the AAIS stood at 19.3% in males, 7.8% in females and among the test-negative group, the corresponding figures were; 21.1% in males; 13.2% in females, the difference from those for the other group being relatively small. The results of the Ethanol Patch test were related to those of the TAST and KAST, but not to the AAIS. The correlation between the Patch test and KAST indicates that the test-negatives are prone to become alcohol-dependant. Though the results of the Patch test and those of the AAIS were not related, the findings show that some alcohol-intolerant university students are drinking excessively.

Adult↗