To clarify the knowledge and beliefs of the Japanese general population related to legal options, pain medications, communication with physicians, and hydration/nutrition in end-of-life care, and to explore the associations between end-of-life care they had experienced and these beliefs, a questionnaire survey was conducted on two target populations: 5000 general population subjects and 866 bereaved family members of cancer patents who died in 12 palliative care units in Japan. The respondents were requested to report the legal knowledge about end-of-life options, pain-related beliefs, communication-related beliefs, and hydration/nutrition-related beliefs, and their experiences with end-of-life care. A total of 3061 responses were analyzed (effective response rate, 54%). The respondents were classified into six groups: no bereavement experience (n = 949), those who had lost family members within the past 10 years from noncancer diseases at institutions (n = 673), those who lost family members from noncancer disease at home (n = 264), those who lost family members from cancer at institutions other than palliative care units (n = 525), those who lost family members from cancer at home (n = 86), and those who lost family members from cancer at palliative care units (n = 548). Across groups, 32-45% and 50-63% of the respondents stated that treatment withdrawal and double effect act were legal, respectively. Between 34% and 44% believed that cancer pain is not sufficiently relieved, 27-38% believed that opioids shorten life, and 24-33% believed that opioids cause addiction. Communication-related beliefs potentially resulting in barriers to satisfactory end-of-life discussion were identified in 31-40% ("physicians are generally poor at communicating bad news") and in 14-25% ("physicians are not comfortable discussing death"). The bereaved family members of the patients who died in palliative care units were significantly more likely than the other groups to believe that cancer pain is sufficiently relieved, and significantly less likely to believe that opioids shorten life, that opioids cause addiction, that physicians are generally poor at communicating bad news, and that physicians are uncomfortable discussing death. Between 33% and 50% of the respondents, including families from palliative care units, believed "artificial hydration should be continued as the minimum standard until death," while 15-31% agreed that "artificial hydration relieves patient symptoms." A significant proportion of the Japanese general population has beliefs about legal options, pain medications, and communication with physicians that potentially result in barriers to quality end-of-life care. As their experiences in specialized palliative care significantly influenced their belief, systematic efforts to spread quality palliative care activity are of value to lessen these barriers and achieve quality end-of-life care.

Recent post-mortem and imaging studies provide evidence for a glial reduction in different brain areas in mood disorders. This study was aimed to test whether glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), a member of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta superfamily, in blood levels was associated with mood disorders. We measured GDNF and TGF-beta levels in whole blood in remitted patients with mood disorders [n=56; major depressive disorders (MDD) 39, bipolar disorders (BD) 17] and control subjects (n=56). GDNF and TGF-beta were assayed with the sandwich ELISA method. Total GDNF levels were significantly lower in MDD and in BD than in control subjects (MDD, p=0.0003; BD, p=0.018), while no significant difference in total TGF-beta1 or total TGF-beta2 levels was found in these groups. Our study suggests that lower GDNF levels might be involved in the pathophysiology of mood disorders, although this preliminary study has several limitations.

In a high CV risk population in a routine care setting in Japan, guideline recommended LDL-C goal attainment and utilization of statins and other LMT was low. In addition, physicians appeared to be more likely to consider the initiation of statins in patients with higher baseline LDL-C levels.

Although recent studies suggest that opioid rotation could be an effective treatment strategy for morphine-induced delirium, there have been no prospective studies to investigate the treatment effects of opioid rotation using fentanyl. The primary aim of this study was to clarify the efficacy of opioid rotation from morphine to fentanyl in symptom palliation of morphine-induced delirium. Twenty-one consecutive cancer patients with morphine-induced delirium underwent opioid rotation to fentanyl. Physicians recorded the symptom severity of delirium (the Memorial Delirium Assessment Scale, MDAS), pain, and other symptoms (categorical verbal scale from 0: none to 3: severe) and the Schedule for Team Assessment Scale (STAS) (from 0: none to 4: extreme); and performance status at the time of study enrollment and three and seven days after. Of 21 patients recruited, one patient did not complete the study. In the remaining 20 patients, morphine was substituted with transdermal fentanyl in 9 patients and parenteral fentanyl in 11 patients. Total opioid dose increased from 64 mg oral morphine equivalent/day (Day 0) to 98 mg/day (Day 7), and the median increase in total opioid dose was 42%. Treatment success, defined as an MDAS score below 10 and pain score of 2 or less, was obtained in 13 patients on Day 3 and 18 patients on Day 7. The mean MDAS score significantly decreased from 14 (Day 0) to 6.4 and 3.6 (Days 3 and 7, respectively, P < 0.001). Pain scores significantly decreased from 2.2 (Day 0) to 1.3 and 1.1 on the categorical verbal scale (Days 3 and 7, respectively, P < 0.001); from 2.6 (Day 0) to 1.6 and 1.3 on the STAS (Days 3 and 7, respectively, P < 0.001). Symptom scores of dry mouth, nausea, and vomiting significantly decreased, and performance status significantly improved. Opioid rotation from morphine to fentanyl may be effective in alleviating delirium and pain in cancer patients with morphine-induced delirium.