Lifestyle Habits Adjustment for Hypertension and Discontinuation of Antihypertensive Agents

Background: Hypertension is one of lifestyle-related diseases, and prevention and effect of reduction pressure can be expected by non-pharmacological interventions. Authors have continued guidance of adjustment for lifestyle to thousands of hypertensive patients, resulting 4.6%-6.1% case could discontinue hypertensive agents. This study enrolled patients with all necessary related data. Subjects and methods: Subjects were 50 patients with hypertension (M/F: 25/25, age 65.4 ± 8.6 vs. 53.4 ± 6.2 years, BMI 23.4 ± 2.7 vs. 22.3 ± 2.5, respectively), who could discontinued antihypertensive agents. They received consultation and intervention from registered dietitian nutritionists, exercise therapists and nurses. Results: The comparative results on males and females are as follows: smoking habit was 76% vs. 0%, alcohol intake was 60% vs. 0%, diabetes complication was 16% vs. 8%, and hyperlipidemia was 32% vs. 52%, respectively. These cases showed rare to none incidence of cerebral vascular accident (CVA), coronary heart disease (CHD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Consultations in median were 4.0 vs. 4.0 times, median weight reduction was 2.2 kg vs. 1.6 kg and median period withdrawal of the drug was 2.0 years vs. 2.5 years. Discussion and conclusion: When living adjustment is advised, blood pressure decreases due to behavior change. Our results suggest that these cases have less arteriosclerosis development, which enables withdrawal of medicine. It is necessary to carefully observe the progress whether the antihypertensive drug will be unnecessary or will be restarted. Current results obtained would become the fundamental data in the future, and the adjustment for diet and exercise would be useful for more adequate treatment for hypertension

<Book Review>Jane Richardson Hanks, and Lucien Mason Hanks. Tribes of the North Thailand Frontier. Monograph 51. Yale University Southeast Asian Studies, 2001, xlviii+319p.+map.

この論文は国立情報学研究所の学術雑誌公開支援事業により電子化されました

Pagodas and Prophets: Contesting Sacred Space and Power among Buddhist Karen in Karen State

This paper analyzes multi-layered religious practices among local Buddhist Karen on the plains of Karen State in Burma, within the context of the larger socio-political dynamics of Burmese Buddhism. The purpose is threefold: first, to give ethnographic details of the hybrid nature of religious practices among Buddhist Pwo Karen, thereby demonstrating how sacred space and power are contested, despite the strong hand of the state; second, to challenge the assumed equation between non-Buddhist minorities on the one hand, and Buddhists as a lowland majority aligned to the state on the other; and third, to raise an alternative understanding to predominantly state-centered perspectives on Theravada Buddhism. Field-based observations on the young charismatic Phu Taki and his community, as well as on the practice of pagoda worship called Duwae that has hitherto been undocumented are presented. These are examined in relation to the changing religious policies of the regime, especially since the policies of “Myanmafication” of Buddhism by the reformist council began in 1980

Internal and External Discurse of Communality, Tradition and Environment : Minority Claims on Forest in the Northern Hills of Thailand(<Special Issue>Yunnan and Its Surroundings)

この論文は国立情報学研究所の学術雑誌公開支援事業により電子化されました

Introduction: Notes Towards Debating Multiculturalism in Thailand and Beyond (<Special Issue>Redefining "Otherness" from Northern Thailand)

この論文は国立情報学研究所の学術雑誌公開支援事業により電子化されました

Negotiating Ethnic Representation between Self and Other: The Case of Karen and Eco-tourism in Thailand (<Special Issue>Redefining "Otherness" from Northern Thailand)

この論文は国立情報学研究所の学術雑誌公開支援事業により電子化されました。Since the late 1980s, the hill dwelling minority in Thailand have gained visibility amidsocial movements concerning environmental conservation, community forest rights, andthe appeal for citizenship. In this process they have gained a stage and a voice to representthemselves to a considerable degree. The discourse and representation pertaining to thehill-dwellers are becoming an arena of negotiation, where the hill-dwellers themselves areactive participants. In this paper, I examine the layers of discourse regarding the Karenwhich has evolved within the changing socio-political context. Participants in the discourseadopt varied elements of the existing layers of discourse by travelers, missionaries,academics, administrators and NGOs which have all contributed to the stereotype of theKaren as the meek and submissive hill-dwellers. In the latter half of the paper, I take up acase of a recent eco-tourism venture in Chiang Mai Province, and analyze how villagerswhose existence has been precarious for decades due to its position on the edge of aNational Park have chosen to represent themselves in the venture. Eco-tourism especiallyprovides a pertinent arena for the negotiation of such self/other representation

Seeking Haven and Seeking Jobs: Migrant Workers' Networks in Two Thai Locales

Thailand has seen a large increase in migrant workers from Myanmar since the 1990s. A constant flow of migrants arrive to seek refuge from dire circumstances in their homeland and/or to seek better work opportunities. They have adapted to changing state policy regarding their migrant status and work permits as well as to more immediate means of control. Previous works on this subject have tended either toward macro-level policy and economics, or more journalistic accounts of individual migrant experiences. Little attention has been paid to differences in the migrant processes and networks formed across the border and within the country. In this paper two locales, one on the border (Mae Sot) and one in the interior (Samut Songkhram), are compared based on interviews conducted with migrant workers on their mode of arrival, living and working conditions, migrant status and control, and how they form networks and relations within and across the border. By comparing the two locales, rather than emphasize how the state and geopolitical space define mobility we argue that transnational migrant workers formulate and define their space through adaptive networks in articulation with geopolitical factors as well as local socioeconomic and historical-cultural dynamics. The dynamics among macro policies, micro-level agency of migrants, and meso-level networks define each locale