Brain and nerve = Shinkei kenkyū no shinpo
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Review Case Reports
[Transient bilateral complete blindness and severe abdominal pain in a patient with alcoholic ketoacidosis].
A 66-year-old man presented with bilateral complete blindness and severe abdominal pain. He was diagnosed with ethanol-induced severe ketoacidosis and septic shock and dopamine and sodium bicarbonate was administered to him. This treatment rapidly ameliorated his symptoms of blindness and abdominal pain. It should be noted that alcoholic ketoacidosis (AKA) may induce severe acidosis and hypotension, leading to transient blindness,which is a condition that can be cured by appropriate treatment.
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Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a sensorimotor disorder, characterized by an irresistible urge to move the legs and usually accompanied or caused by uncomfortable and unpleasant sensations. It begins or worsens during periods of rest or inactivity, is partially or totally relieved by movement and is exacerbated or occurs mainly in the evening or night. People suffering from RLS are estimated to represent 2-3% of the general Japanese population, which is relatively lower than the estimated prevalence in western countries. ⋯ Small fiber neuropathy can trigger RLS or mimic its symptoms. RLS is associated with many neurological disorders, including Parkinson disease and multiple system atrophy; althoughit does not predispose to these diseases. A symptom rating scale for RLS authorized by the International RLS Study Group (IRLS) would facilitate accurate diagnosis of this condition.
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Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a sensorimotor disorder characterized by an irresistible urge to move the legs, accompanied by uncomfortable and unpleasant sensations that diminish with motor activity and worsen at rest. The symptoms of this syndrome worsen in the evening and at night, leading to difficulty in sleeping. Treatment of RLS includes non-pharmacological intervention and drug therapy. ⋯ More recently, studies on the use of anticonvulsants for the treatment of RLS have focused on gabapentin. Benzodiazepines, including clonazepam and nitrazepam, are widely prescribed, but their therapeutic effects on RLS symptoms were rather modest. Therefore, benzodiazepines are mostly used to improve the sleep quality in patients with RLS.
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Case Reports
[Deficits of mnemonic rhyme for the multiplication table (Kuku) after right putaminal hemorrhage].
In Japan, the multiplication table is learned predominantly by rote learning of reciting multiplication table (which is named Kuku) with a standardized mnemonic rhymes. The Kuku is memorized intensively by oral repetitions. Therefore, it is not clear whether the neuropsychological features of the deficit of the Kuku and that of the multiplication table in Western countries after brain injury are the same or not. ⋯ Moreover, our patient did not make any errors when the first operand of the Kuku was 5. Sparing of multiplication errors when the first operand is 5 has been reported in another Japanese case study on acalculia as well as in studies of healthy Japanese children; however, this has never been reported in Western studies. Therefore, it was suggested that there were similarities as well as differences between the deficits of multiplication table in Western and Japanese patients after brain injury.