To assess the effects of physician's advice on non-specific acute low back pain (ALBP) in Japanese workers, existing data from a prospective, epidemiological study of Japanese workers were analyzed. Among workers who had had low back strain during the past year at baseline and responded to the 1-yr follow-up survey (n=475), those who obtained medical care (n=255) and received advice either to rest (n=68 for the rest group) or to stay active (n=32 for the active group) were examined. The rest group seemed to have a higher risk of ALBP than the active group after adjusting for age, gender, history of low back strain, type of physical activity at work, and severity of LBP during the past month at baseline (adjusted OR for the rest group vs. the active group: 3.65, 95%CI: 0.96-13.8). Compared to the active group, low back strain was more likely to occur repeatedly and to become chronic in the rest group. These findings suggest that advice to rest may not be better than advice to stay active for preventing future episodes of ALBP in Japanese workers, which is consistent with previous studies or guidelines for the management of ALBP in Western countries.
It was recently suggested that cortisol levels in fingernails reflect cumulative hormone exposure over a relatively long period. This exploratory study cross-sectionally investigated the relationships between fingernail cortisol level and psychosocial stress in a sample of middle-aged workers (94 men and 29 women). The participants were asked to grow their fingernails for ∼2 weeks and then provide fingernail samples from every digit by using nail clippers. Further, they completed questionnaires for assessment of exposure to psychosocial stress in the past (stressful life events in the workplace in the previous year; e.g. change to a different line of work) and in the present (job stress and perceived stress). Results of a regression analysis adjusting for the effects of demographic variables showed that experience of stressful life events, but not job stress and perceived stress, was associated with elevated fingernail cortisol level. These findings indicate the potential of fingernail samples to retrospectively reflect individual differences in cortisol levels related to past psychosocial stress.
We concluded that CBV-PDD and IVCe were useful parameters in evaluating the CBV in HD patients, while CBV-Cal was not a useful parameter. Also, as a marker of changes in the CBV in HD patients, IVCe was considered to be more sensitive than either ANP or BNP.
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