(563) Nocturnal leg cramps

  I read a study about nocturnal leg cramps, which was done by University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen University the Netherlands. The answer to this question, "Does stretching before sleep reduces the frequency and severity of nocturnal leg cramps in older adults?" was yes. Nightly stretching before going to sleep reduces the frequency and severity of nocturnal leg cramps in older adults.

Stretches used in the experimental group; (a) calf stretch in standing, (b) hamstring stretch in standing, (c) hamstring and calf stretch in sitting.

  I tried stretches before sleep, but I did Makkouhou　（真向法） stretching instead. I did it for less than 3 minutes.

So far, I have done these stretches before sleep for about a week. It works, I think.

Introduction

Nocturnal leg cramps are suddenly occurring, episodic1), painful, sustained, involuntary muscle contractions of the calf muscles, hamstrings2), or foot muscles. During the cramp, the involved muscles are tender and hard on palpation3). The pain that occurs with these contractions is sharp and intense and may last from seconds to several minutes. Although they are otherwise benign4), nocturnal leg cramps can cause substantial5) distress6) and can disrupt7) sleep. In 20% of people who experience nocturnal leg cramps, cramps also occur during the daytime (Monderer et al 2010). The cramps sometimes occur in episodes a few days a week, during which they repeat themselves (Kanaan and Sawaya, 2001, Stewart et al 1993, Mondere et al 2010). Although the insults8) generally persist for no longer than ten minutes, in exceptional situations they can continue for several hours. In approximately 2% of cases, nocturnal leg cramps occur weekly (Abkulla et al 1999). Nocturnal leg cramps occur more commonly with advancing age, affecting between 38% and 50% of the elderly (Butler et al 2002, Abulla et al 1999, Sotag and Wanner, 1988). Nocturnal leg cramps are more prevalent9) among women and among people with comobidities10), especially those with neurological11) and cardiovascular12) diseases (Butler et al 2002, Stewart et al 1993).
1) episodic: 時折起こる
2) hamstring: 人間のひざの後ろの腱
3) palpation: 触診
4) benign: [bɪnάɪn] 良性の
5) substantial: plentiful　相当な
6) distress: suffering 苦悩
7) disrupt: 中断する
8) insults: 発作
9) prevalent: はやっている
10) comorbidity: 共存症
11) neurological: 神経性の
12) cardiovascular: 循環器系の

Stretching before sleep reduces the frequency and severity of nocturnal leg cramps in older adults. A randomized trial

Question
In adults who experience nocturnal leg cramps, does stretching of the calf and hamstring muscles each day just before sleep reduce the frequency and severity of the cramps?

Design
A randomised trial with concealed13) allocation14) and intention-to-treat analysis15). 
13) concealed: 隠した
14) allocation: 割り当て、配置
15) intention-to-treat: ITT分析、包括解析

Participants
Eighty adults aged over 55 years with nocturnal leg cramps who were not being treated with quinine16).
16) quinine: kwάɪnɑɪn(米国英語), kwɪníːn(英国英語)、キニーネ剤（マラリア特効薬）

Intervention17)
The experimental group performed stretches of the calf and hamstring muscles nightly, immediately before going to sleep, for six weeks. The control group18) performed no specific stretching exercises. Both groups continued other usual activities.
17) intervention: 治療介入
18) control group: 操作を加えないままにしてあるグループ

Outcome measures
Participants recorded the frequency of nocturnal leg cramps in a daily diary. Participants also recorded the severity of the pain associated with nocturnal leg cramps on a 10-cm visual analogue scale. Adverse events were also recorded.

Results
All participants completed the study. At six weeks, the frequency of nocturnal leg cramps decreased significantly more in the experimental group, mean difference 1.2 cramps per night, (95% CI19) 0.6 to 1.8). The severity of the nocturnal leg cramps had also decreased significantly more in the experimental group than in the control group, mean difference20) 1.3 cm (95% CI 0.9 to 1.7) on the 10-cm visual analogue scale.
19) 95% CI: 95%confidence interval 95%信頼区間20) mean difference: 治療群の数値の平均値とコントロール群の数値の平均値の差

Conclusion
Nightly stretching before going to sleep reduces the frequency and severity of nocturnal leg cramps in older adults.
Trial registration
NCT01421628
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(562) 鶯宿梅 Oushukubai

　鶯宿梅(Oushukubai) I saw this word a hauta song Harusame. Its lyrics were written by Shibata Hanamori about 170 years ago. An unnamed prostitute put a tune to this poem. I learned Harusame in my shamisen lessen. I like this melody. There are several performances of Harusame in YouTube.

My favorite one is Misora Hibari's dancing scene in a samurai movie. She was dancing in kimono and singing to the shamisen, a banjo-like instrument with three strings. She sang that she is uguisu the Japanese nightingale, the one she loves is the plum tree. I couldn't understand love between a nightingale and a plum tree. I am a little confused because I imagined several nightingales in a plum tree. The expression 鶯宿梅(oushukubai) nightingale's-home-plum tree was quite new to me. But the other day I learned a famous old waka poem and its anecdote.

  The next short story explains what 鶯宿梅(oushukubai) is. It goes like this;
(The emperor had a red-blossoming plum tree very dear to him. It died, and his minister was sent to seek and get a tree like it. At last, one was found and asked of the lady who owned it. She loved the plum tree for its blooms, and because a nightingale would come there and sing; but she could not deny since it was the order of the emperor. When the tree was taken away, she tied to it a little paper, upon which was written:

  Chioku nare ba itomo Kashiikeshi 勅なればいともかしこし
  Uguisu no Yado wato towaba　鶯の宿はと問わば
  Ikaga kota yen.　　　　　　　　いかが答へむ
”As it is the order of the emperor, I am filled with awe; but if am asked where is the home of the nightingale, what shall I answer?" The emperor, touched by the verse, returned the plum tree.)
ーTwenty Months in Japan by H. G. Hawkinsー

日本で過ごした二十ヶ月

• 作者: H・G・ホーキンス
• 出版社/メーカー: 創風社出版
• 発売日: 2023/09/20
• メディア: 単行本（ソフトカバー）

  This incident happened more than 1,000 years ago in Kyoto in Japan. This plum tree is called oushukubai, which means Japanese nightingale's-home tree.

  Now I return to the hauta song, Harusame. I try to understand the meaning of these lyrics.

春雨に　しっぽり濡るるうぐいすの
Harusame ni shippori nururu Uguisuno

羽風に匂う梅が香や
Ha-kaze ni Niou Ume ga Ka ya

花に戯れ　しおらしや
Hana ni tawamure shiorashiya

小鳥でさえも一筋に
Kotori de saemo Hitosuji ni

ねぐら定めぬ　気はひとつ
Negura sadamenu Ki wa hitotsu

私しゃ鶯　主は梅
Watasha Uguisu Nushi wa Ume

やがて　身まま気ままになるならば
Yagate mimama kimama ni narunaraba

サアー　鶯宿梅じゃないかいなー
Saa Oushuku Bai ja naikai naa

サアーサ　何でもよいわいな
Saasa nan demo yoiwai naa

A Japanese nightingale gets wet moistly in the spring rain
The fragrance of plum blossoms wafting fragrantly in the breeze of feathers
The lovely nightingale playing in the plum blossoms
Even such a fragile little bird
Has its roost firmly set
And lives in the plum tree sincerely

I am the nightingale, you are the plum tree
Someday I will be free
If I am free to do as I please
Then I'll fly to you, my home of the plum tree
Oh, it doesn't matter anymore
Oh, I don't care anymore
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(561) Marriage is less important today

In Japan, is marriage becoming less important today than it was in the past?

<Speech of the negative side>

  No, marriage is still important today. Its importance never changes at all. 

The "lifetime never-married rate" by age 50 is getting higher than it was in the past. But this doesn't mean marriage is becoming less important now. This just shows the difficulty of marriage in Japan. There are several problems to be solved but it is another story. The importance of marriage is everlasting. There are a lot of young people longing for getting married. They know the importance of marriage today.

  Marriage is the legal relationship between two people who are married to each other. The married couple must cooperate each other to keep a safe and comfortable life. The law makes it clear that the couple is obligated to share marital expenses in accordance with their ability to bear them (e.g., size of income). This is very important. Marital expenses are housing expenses, living expenses, living expenses and school expenses for children. These are necessary to maintain a normal social life.

Why do people get married?
  Answers are rather simple and very natural for people.
1. Living alone is lonely.
2. Living together is happier.
3. They want to have children.
4. They want to have families where they can feel safe and happy.

Why is marriage so important?
Because there are many merits in marriage.
1. You can live your life and future with your partner.
2. You can create an ideal life style with your partner.
3. You can get tax relief, such as spousal deduction and deduction for dependents.
4. Marriage allows a legal proof of marital status.
  "If you love someone, you get married, right?"
Marriage is the legal relationship between two people who are married to each other. Marriage gives the couple obligation of fidelity and proper division. These are important to live happily together. In order to avoid unhappiness, it is essential to analyze oneself to find out what makes "oneself" happy. Marriage is surely the important relationship for the coupe to think of. In conclusion, marriage is not becoming less important than it was in the past. Marriage is still important today for the loving couples to long for better life styles.
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(560) Rich and riches

The word of the day / Rich and Riches

  Rich means having much money. 
When used about food, rich means containing a lot of fat, oil, sugar, cream, etc.
For example, rich sauce, a rich chocolate cake.

  Riches mean a lot of money or a lot of valuable things.
I recently read a book. Its title is "Beauty and the Beast". This book is a retold one in easy English. I'll show you a sentence having riches from this book.

美女と野獣 Beauty and the Beast (ラダーシリーズ Level 1)

• 作者: ザンディ・スミス-セラフィン
• 出版社/メーカー: IBCパブリッシング
• 発売日: 2006/08/28
• メディア: 単行本（ソフトカバー）

  Beauty's elder sisters were very proud of their family's money. They thought that their riches and beautiful things made them better than other people. They laugh at poor people and were mean to other girls.

Poor is opposite rich.
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(559) Automatic subtitles generator

  Can you get this English sentence?
And Dennis on what I see all day or all stake you decide.

Sound strange? Unintelligible text. No meaning!
Yes, you're right. This is not English at all but Japanese. This is a Japanese sentence written in English words. Can you guess what it is?
Original Japanese sentence is;
"運転手さん私をここで降ろしてください", which means "Driver, please let me off here".

  I recently came to know that YouTube has a function of automatic English subtitles generator. When I set it on? and watched a video of Rakugo comic story by Katsura Sunshine, I accidentally got this weird English-like subtitle for the Japanese sentence.

He got a taxi and got to the theater. He said this Japanese to the taxi driver.
運転手さん私をここで降ろしてください。
Its subtitles appeared as follows.
And Dennis on what I see all day or all stake you decide.
I break it into three parts.
And Dennis on / what I see all day / or all stake you decide
I'll show you each part of this sentence.

English subtitle ⇔ Japanese
And Dennis on ⇔ Untenshu-san
what I see all day ⇔ watashi o koko de
(The sound of "koko" is missing though.)
or all stake you decide ⇔ oroshite kudasai

  This automatic English subtitles generator is really smart, I think. It might be a fun way for English speaking people learn Japanese by playing on English words. What do you think of this idea?
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タグ：発音

(558) Goko in Ishite-ji temple

Can you guess what this is?
Do you feel something special for this object?
Yes... No...?

  2021,03.20 at Ishite-ji temple

  I'm afraid this is not a real thing but an enlarged replica1). This is a five-pronged2) vajra3) or Goko (五鈷) in Japanese. This object symbolizes an ancient India's weapon. It is supposed to keep off evil spirits as well as to relieve us of earthly desires and sufferings.

  Vajra is a Sanskrit4) word meaning both thunderbolt and diamond. The vajra is used as a symbolic and ritual tool in Vajrayana5) Buddhism, or mikkyou(密教) in Japanese, that is, esoteric Buddhism or Tibetan6) Buddhism.

  St. Kobo brought back the vajra from old China, Tang7) about 1200 years ago. He learned the esoteric8) Buddhism there, and started the Shingon sect (真言宗) in Japan. Looking at the portrait of St. Kobo holding Goko, you can get the real size of Goko.

1) replica [réplɪkə]
2) vajura [ˈvʌ́dʒrə]
3) five-pronged [fάɪv-prɔŋd]
4) Sanskrit [sǽnskrɪt]
5) vajrayana [vʌ̀dʒrʌjɑ́ːnə] 密教、literally "diamond vhiecle", 金剛乗
6) Tibetan [tɪbétn]
7) Tang [tˈæŋ] 唐朝
8) esoteric [èsətérɪk] 秘密の、深遠な、難解な
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