Biomedical subjects

Yasutaka Shimizu

Publications and source records attributed to Yasutaka Shimizu.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

Vertical ophthalmoplegia in a demented patient with striatopallidodentate calcification.

A case is presented here of a 73-year-old man who showed signs of dementia, supranuclear vertical ophthalmoplegia, pseudobulbar palsy, axial dystonia, mild rigidity, and parkinsonian gait. Computed tomography of the head revealed symmetrical calcification in the striatum, globus pallidus and dentate nucleus to an extraordinary degree. No metabolic conditions were observed that could explain the intracranial calcification. Oral administration of levodopa improved the patient's motor symptoms to some extent. Ophthalmoplegia, parkinsonism and dementia combined are typically seen in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy. However, the present case and a few others that have been reported would seem to indicate that these unique symptoms might also be found in patients with intracranial calcification.

Aged↗

PubMed2003

Steroid-responsive limbic encephalitis.

A 71-year-old man presented with gradually progressing cognitive decline following acute febrile exanthematous disorder. The MRI showed an abnormality in the bilateral limbic systems. An elevation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) protein with lymphocyte pleocytosis was noted. Immunoblot of the CSF revealed the presence of anti-white matter antibodies that mainly recognized astrocytes. Intravenous steroid followed by oral steroid reduced the symptoms to a remarkable degree. The patient has now been successfully sustained with steroid for more than two years. We considered that this case is classified as non-paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis, and acquired autoimmunity played a major role in the pathogenesis of this case.

Aged↗

PubMed2003

[Effects of personal controls on cortisol secretion during stress processes].

This study investigated effects of personal control on psychobiological stress responses. Salivary cortisol was used as an index of hypothalamic pituitary-adrenocortical axis response. Healthy males (N = 20) were exposed five times serially to a psychosocial stressor: mental arithmetic under time pressure. "Chance control", "other powerful controls" and "internality" were reported personality-dependent aspects of personal controls; "personal control as coping" under the psychosocial stress situation was also assessed with a questionnaire after the session ended. Cortisol response showed significant increase (F (16,304) = 6.69, p < 0.01). From the view point of personality, the high "chance control" score group showed higher levels of cortisol compared to the low score group before stressful tasks. On the other hand, the high "personal control as coping" score group showed higher levels of cortisol compared to the low score group after the stressful tasks. We inferred that the high "personal control as coping" score group conducted stressful tasks with high concentration and effort. The effects of such personal controls as personality and as ways of coping were demonstrated in this experiment through cortisol secretion in different stress-process phases.

Adaptation, Psychological↗