The effects of water exercise, as a form of daily physical activity (water exercise in a warm water pool), on bone loss in healthy Japanese postmenopausal women have been cross-sectionally and longi tudinally investigated from the viewpoint of preventing osteoporosis. In the cross-sectional study, the bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar spine (Z-score (%)) in the Veterans group (N=27), who had been exercising for 35.2 months on average, was significantly higher than that in the Newcomers (N=40), who had only begun to exercise 3 or 4 weeks before, and that in the Non-exercisers (N=30), serving as a control group. The rate of change in the BMD of the lumbar spine was-0.92%! year in the Non-exercisers (N=30), +1.55%/year in the Veterans (N= 20), and +2.16%/year in the Newcomers (N=15) , based on BMD Z-scores. In the Exercisers groups, it was found that the rate of change in the BMD showed a slight increase rather than a decrease irrespective of the duration of menopause. On the other hand, in the Non-exercisers group, the rate of change in the BMD decreased slightly. The results of questionnaires showed that the subjects' general awareness of health and fitness in daily life was enhanced after starting the water exercise pro gram. These results suggest that consistently participating in water exercise is an important factor in preventing bone loss, and moreover , appears not only to indirectly improve awareness of daily physical activity but also to promote health and improve daily life.

Studies on Cholinesterase ‡W. On the Relationship between Cholinesterase of Basal Ganglia and Liver Diseases

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In the first report (published elsewhere), we studied the distribution of the cholinesterase (ChE) in the human brain. In this report, we studied the ChE in the human serum. According to the recent literatures on ChE, the physiological role of the non-specific or pseudo-ChE in the serum is not so clear as the specific or true ChE in the nervous tissue. While the latter is one of the important substances for the normal function of the nerve, it is not determined whether the pseudo-ChE in the serum is in dispensable or not for the normal metabolism of the body. Despite these facts, the presence of the definite relationship between serum ChE and liver made it clinically important to study the level of ChE in the serum. Furthermore, there may be some correlation, though indirect, between the serum ChE and the neuro-humoral function of the body. In this research, we studied the ChE level of the normal and of patients of liver, tumor, tuberculosis and other various diseases. Method As in the first report, the method of Ammon1) using the Warburg's apparatus was employed. The serum was diluted 50 times with the Ringer's solution with, 0.025M sod. bicarbonate. As substratum, acetyl choline chloride (Ach) (Roche) was used. After equilibrium was attained, Ach solution in the side arm was poured into the main, part, which con tamed the serum diluted with Ringer's, solution. Final concentration of Ach was 0.25% (0.015M). Though this concentration is not the optimal one for the maximal activity of the serum ChE, it was convenient to use this concentration for measuring the ChE of serum and nervous tissue simultaneously. A few minutes after mixing, reading was taken and repeated after 10 and 20minutes. The activity of ChE was expressed 87

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