National Institute of Integrative Medicine

Introduction: Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide, with 25% of patients being diagnosed with metastatic disease, mostly in the liver, resulting in poor survival. Standard treatment of stage-IV colorectal cancer consists of primary tumour resection followed by chemotherapy. Case Presentation: Here, we report on the treatment effectiveness using integrative therapies in a 52-year-old male with metastatic colon cancer and liver lesions to achieve stable partial remission with an overall high level of wellbeing. After surgical removal of the primary tumour, the 8-month integrative treatment regime consisted of standard anti-angiogenesis treatment, as well as multiple non-standard but evidence-based therapies, including high-dose intravenous nutrients and herbal therapies, oral intake of repurposed medication and nutritional supplements, and a 4-month targeted electromagnetic field/Rife frequency therapy. Conclusion: The integrative therapies used in this case study were highly tolerable and effective in the treatment of metastatic colon cancer with liver lesions, achieving substantial tumour response and stable partial remission with a high level of wellbeing.

Abstract Introduction Sleep deprivation can impair time perception. In a sleep-deprived state, time tends to be overestimated. In addition, sleep deprivation can affect circadian fluctuations in time perception. Time perception may also fluctuate at rhythms other than circadian rhythms, such as theta frequency. Previous studies have shown that perceived time can fluctuate at theta frequencies and that such fluctuations are a function of the cue-to-target interval for the response. However, whether sleep deprivation affects theta fluctuations in time perception is unknown. Methods In this study, we compared a sleep deprivation condition with a normal sleep condition that served as an experimental control. In both conditions, participants (N=24, 13 females, mean age 25.6±3.5 years) were asked to complete a task to generate 3 seconds of time by pressing a key before and after sleep or sleep deprivation time (23:00 to 8:00). The interval between the clue (cueing that a response signal will appear) and the response signal (requiring 3 seconds to be generated as soon as possible) was designed to range from 0.25 to 1.05 seconds in steps of 1/30th of a second. Results As a result, similar to previous studies, an overestimation of time was observed in the case of sleep deprivation. In addition, stronger fluctuations in time perception were found at low theta frequencies (4.4 to 4.8 Hz) in the case of sleep deprivation. Conclusion This study suggests that cognitive abilities such as time perception fluctuate at different rhythms, and sleep deprivation may affect these fluctuations. These fluctuations may be associated with instability of brain states and functions (e.g., attention) due to sleep deprivation. Further studies are needed to elucidate the neurophysiological mechanisms. Support (if any) JSPS Foreign Researcher Scholarship, JSPS KAKENHI (Grants No. JP17K19639), AMED (Grants No. JP21zf0127005), and World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI), MEXT, Japan.

Escalating environmental pollution and urbanization is associated with a rise in fungal contamination, which contributes to a variety of health concerns, particularly respiratory tract ailments such as allergic rhinitis, asthma, bronchitis, and sick building syndrome. Spore trap testing serves as a straightforward method for evaluating the number of spores/m³ in the air. Multiple studies indicate that 1000 spores/m³ represents the upper threshold for normal levels of mould exposure, with levels above this linked to adverse health effects, thereby establishing the environmental threshold. According to the literature, the clinical threshold is 3000 spores/m³ for Cladosporium and 100 spores/m³ for Alternaria. This mini review provides an overview of the existing environmental and clinical thresholds for fungal contamination to assess risk. We examine fungal threshold levels in both outdoor and indoor settings, encompassing residential homes, libraries, buildings, workplaces, and hospitals. In conclusion, environmental scientists, microbiologists/mycologists, occupational hygienists, insurance assessors, the real estate sector, clinical healthcare staff, and others must use and apply both environmental and clinical threshold levels to assess fungal contamination risk in indoor environments to protect public health. And finally, this mini review highlights the need for increased focus and research to ensure that appropriate guidelines and industry standards are developed, applied, and enforced that incorporate objective spore thresholds to quantify risk from fungal mediated adverse health in various indoor environments.

A highly contagious virus causing an illness called COVID-19 has rapidly emerged in the last four months. The growing demand for intensive healthcare, a rising death toll and disruption to supply chains and trade has led to mass implementation of testing, quarantine and lockdown in an effort to limit virus transmission. There are two ways to contract the virus: person-to-person (direct contact) or indirect (non-contact) transmission. This paper examines what is known to date about non-contact transmission in the built environment in the form of a mini review. The main takeaway message is that high-touch surfaces, toilets and often over-looked objects and surfaces are virus reservoirs and that transmission almost always occurs indoors. The use of reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction surveillance (RT-PCR, qPCR) in combination with careful or improved hand hygiene practice and regular surface disinfection cleaning can reduce the environmental viral burden and should not be overlooked or given preference over social distancing interventions.

COVID is a severe acute respiratory syndrome caused by the SARS CoV virus and is currently at pandemic levels worldwide This opinion paper considers what evidence there is for a fungal connection between the aetiology of illness and the role of climate and the local environment The paper focuses mainly on China Five themes are explored beginning with social media reports of potential water damage at emergency healthcare buildings This builds on the premise that damp indoor environments can promote elevated microbial growth from fungi bacteria and yeasts causing occupant infection or exposure or sensitivity reactions to spores cellular debris allergens or to a range of inflammatory mycotoxins The second theme looks at seasonal variations in key climate factors like temperature and humidity and are examined from the perspective of controlling virus transmission based on known epidemiological data trends Thirdly large cities like Wuhan exploit the sponge city concept where water is controlled using engineering controls Since excess water is a hallmark of mould growth in the built environment the role of this particular planning effort is discussed The fourth theme discusses the emerging literature that severe and adverse COVID complications may be caused by fungal co infections The evidence for this builds on emerging clinical reports relating procalcitonin interleukins and lung opacities with signs of severe illness and or sepsis The paper concludes with a review of several non pharmacological infection control interventions that may help in controlling the spread of this virus in other countries and regions

Non-regular employment is increasing and its mental health impact is a globally important problem. In Japan, non-regularly employed researchers are increasing, especially within young age groups, because employment quotas were not sufficiently expanded against rapid increasing number of doctorate holders. It is therefore important to understand the relationship between non-regular employment and mental health. The significance of our research is to contribute to the improvement of researchers' mental health by clarifying the influence of employment status on psychological distress. We conducted a cross-sectional, web-based survey in 2017 via an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire distributed to workers in Tsukuba Science City, Japan. The survey questionnaire items included employment status, psychological distress, occupational stress, sex, age, and income. We analyzed 2,762 valid responses in two categories (1,850 regular employment, 912 non-regular employment) and two subcategories based on age according to the definition of "young researcher" by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (20-39 years vs. 40-59 years). Psychological distress was defined as a total K6 score of 5 or greater. Binomial logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for psychological distress. Non-regular employment was significantly associated with psychological distress in the age 20-39 group but not in the age 40-59 group. At the age 20-39 group, a negative association was shown between psychological distress and reward from work (i.e., pride in their job, ability utilization, and sense of accomplishment). Support to increase psychological work rewards may be important in reducing psychological distress for young non-regularly employed researchers.

Narcolepsy-cataplexy is a debilitating disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness and cataplexy, a bilateral loss of muscle tone triggered by positive emotions. The disease is caused by the loss of orexin-producing neurons in the hypothalamus. Currently, only symptom-oriented therapies are available for narcolepsy. We have recently discovered a potent, non-peptide orexin type-2 receptor (OX2R) agonist, YNT-185. We show that peripheral administration of YNT-185 significantly ameliorated the narcolepsy symptoms in a mouse model for narcolepsy. No desensitization was observed after repeated administration of YNT-185 with respect to the suppression of cataplexy-like episodes. These results provide a proof -of-concept for mechanistic therapy for narcolepsy-cataplexy using OX2R agonists. Additionally, YNT-185 promoted wakefulness in wild-type mice, suggesting that orexin receptor agonists may be useful for the treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness due to other conditions, such as sleepiness accompanying depression and sleepiness due to side effects of medicines or jet lag/shift work.

In this exploratory pilot study, we investigated the potential efficacy of a new systemic tumor therapeutic method as a supplementary or salvage treatment in advanced refractory breast cancer.Termed Sono-Photo Dynamic Therapy (SPDT), this technology utilizes full body and targeted ultrasound in conjunction with photodynamic therapy.Twelve patients with advanced breast carcinoma participated, eleven with metastases in the viscera and brain, and nine within bone.Nine patients had concurrent low dose chemotherapy with the SPDT.After the first round of treatment (where the number of cycles of SPDT varied from 1-4), the overall response rate was 75% (two patients achieved Complete Response [16.67%] and seven patients achieved Partial Response [58.33%]).Results suggest that SPDT was not associated with serious side effects, and may enhance chemotherapy efficacy in the treatment of advanced refractory breast cancer.Despite the exploratory nature of this study, the results suggest that SPDT shows promise as a new systemic approach for tumor adjunct therapy and merits further investigation.