title: Relationship between Toe Temperature and Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cold stress can elicit increases in urinary urgency and frequency. We determined if there was a relationship between finger and toe temperatures and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS).
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 50 people who visited a public health management seminar. The participants were divided into two groups according to self-described sensitivity to cold stress. The cold non-sensitive (CNS) group consisted of 3 males and 20 females (66.9 ± 10.8 years old), and the cold sensitive (CS) group consisted of 4 males and 23 females (65.8 ± 8.01 years old). Each participant was assessed to determine international prostate symptom score (IPSS), overactive bladder symptom score (OABSS), and quality of life (QOL) score. They were then instructed on lifestyle changes and exercises that could improve peripheral blood flow and provide relief for their LUTS. Next, the temperatures of their middle fingers and toes were measured before and after 5-10 min of the exercises. Two weeks later, the IPSS, OABSS, and QOL scores were reassessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Before exercise, the middle fingers were significantly warmer than the middle toes. Exercise had no significant effect on the middle finger temperature of either group; however, it did increase the middle toe temperature for both groups. The increase was greatest for the CS group. The CS group had higher LUTS storage symptoms than the CNS group, and these improved after 2 weeks of lifestyle changes and exercise.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Improvements in lifestyle and daily exercise may be effective for LUTS in CS people.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ishizuka
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Imamura
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamagishi
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Wataru
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Noguchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshiki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kurizaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Nishizawa
keywords: cold stress; lower urinary tract symptoms; overactive bladder