Category: Health

by Michael Gillan Peckitt September 9, 2025 Number of comments0
Cancer Health Japan Medical

Kyoto University Develops Protein to Help Remove Cancer Cells

The research group developed Crunch, short for Connector for Removal of Unwanted Cell Habitat, a protein that binds to unwanted cells to make it easier for macrophages to pick out their target. By modifying the Crunch protein’s structure, it can latch onto different types of unwanted cells. Mice with skin cancer or autoimmune diseases were injected with Crunch protein. The team confirmed that harmful cells, such as cancer cells, either exhibited suppressed growth or were reduced in number.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt September 5, 2025 1
Disability Health Japan Medical

Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry Council Considers Adding “Sleep Disorder” to Medical Department Names, Along with Internal Medicine

Japan’s Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry is considering allowing “sleep disorders” to be listed as an official medical department name at hospitals and clinics. The move comes after the Japanese Society of Sleep Research requested the change, citing a rise in conditions such as insomnia and hypersomnia and confusion over where patients should seek treatment. Currently, care is divided among psychiatry, respiratory medicine, and otolaryngology. The ministry’s advisory council aims to reach a decision by March 2026.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt September 1, 2025 Number of comments0
Birth Rate Health Japan Medical Sex

Japan Panel OKs Nonprescription Sales of Morning-After Pill

An expert panel of Japan’s health ministry has agreed that Aska Pharmaceutical Co. will be given approval to make and sell its emergency contraceptive pill Norlevo without a prescription. At a meeting Friday, the panel also agreed that the product will be classified as a drug that must be taken in the presence of a trained pharmacist for safety reasons. The panel decided not to set an age limit for access. But for individuals under 16, the age of consent to sexual acts, pharmacists would provide guidance as needed. Parental consent would no longer be required. Sales methods will be discussed at a later date.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt August 27, 2025 Number of comments0
Disability Health Japan Politics

Japan Health Ministry to Seek Record 34.7 T. Yen in FY 2026 Budget

Japan’s Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry announced Tuesday it will seek a record 34.79 trillion yen in the government’s fiscal 2026 general-account budget, a 1.4% increase from the previous year, largely driven by rising social welfare costs amid the nation’s aging population. The figure may climb further as allocations for key policies, including pay raises for medical and nursing care workers, have yet to be set. The draft budget includes 16.2 billion yen for digital transformation initiatives such as expanding e-prescriptions, and 80.6 billion yen to bolster medical services ahead of 2040, when the country’s demographic aging is expected to peak, with emphasis on addressing regional and specialty doctor shortages.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt August 25, 2025 Number of comments0
Business Health Japan Transplantation

Japan’s Terumo to Buy British Firm for Organ Transplant Biz

Japanese medical equipment maker Terumo Corp. said Monday that it will fully acquire OrganOx Ltd., a British maker of equipment to preserve organs for transplantation, for 1.5 billion dollars. The acquisition will allow Terumo to make a full-fledged entry into the organ transplantation market, which is forecast to grow. Set up in 2008 as a spinoff from the University of Oxford, OrganOx developed medical equipment using normothermic machine perfusion, a technology to preserve organs by circulating fluids containing oxygen and nutrients through organs at near-body temperature.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt August 23, 2025 Number of comments0
Disability Health Infectious Diseases Japan

Tick-Borne Infection Cases Hit Record High in Japan

The number of people diagnosed with severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome, or SFTS, a tick-borne viral disease, in Japan this year totaled 135 as of Aug. 10, marking a record high, according to data from the Japan Institute for Health Security. The previous record high was 134 cases in 2023. If infected, the disease can cause symptoms, including fever and abdominal pain, after an incubation period of six to 14 days.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt August 20, 2025 Number of comments0
Disability Elderly Health Heatstroke Japan

Tokyo considers reducing burden on air conditioner purchases as elderly and disabled households suffer from heatstroke

In light of the recent spate of indoor heatstroke cases due to the record-breaking heatwave, it was learned on the 18th that Tokyo has decided to implement measures to reduce the financial burden on elderly and disabled households who purchase energy-efficient air conditioners. On the same day, four Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly factions each submitted requests to Governor Koike Yuriko as part of their heat countermeasures.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt August 7, 2025 Number of comments0
Alzheimer’s Health Japan Medical

Japan OKs Price Cut for Alzheimer’s Drug Lecanemab

A Japanese health ministry panel Wednesday approved a plan to cut the price of Lecanemab, an Alzheimer’s drug codeveloped by Japanese drugmaker Eisai Co. and U.S. industry peer Biogen Inc., by 15 pct in Japan starting Nov. 1. The price of the drug will be lowered to 97,277 yen for a 500-milligram bottle. Dosages are based on weight. For example, a patient weighing 50 kilograms would see an annual cost reduction from about 2.98 million yen to about 2.53 million yen.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt August 6, 2025 Number of comments0
Health Japan Medical

Kyoto University Team Develops Pain Reliever Comparable to Morphine

 According to the team, the newly developed drug, Adriana, is a groundbreaking painkiller, which works on a completely different mechanism to morphine and other existing synthetic opioids. The drug has the potential to revolutionize pain control in the medical field, the team said. The team also expects that the drug will help resolve the so-called opioid epidemic, in which a large number of deaths occur mainly due to overdoses of opioids.