ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the meaning of growing traditional vegetables and the health of elderly people living in rural areas. Data obtained from semi-structured interviews were qualitatively analyzed considering the local social and cultural contexts. The results suggest that cultivating traditional vegetables was related to the following categories: [A means to connect with people], [Facing old age], [A means to maintain physical functions], and [Protecting the community]. Cultivation of traditional vegetables is an activity that uses the five senses and utilizes intellectual functions. Furthermore, it is thought that significance and value will be found in life by building active relationships with people. Therefore, the cultivation of traditional vegetables was considered to be linked to recognizing the existential self and accepting the decline and loss of physical and mental functions to live as oneself.
ABSTRACT
In this study, we focused on the dietary habits of residents living in rural areas and investigated the status of dietary habits 10 years after an intervention project. Questionnaires were distributed to 210 people who lived in rural areas. Among them, 109 (53 Seminar group, 56 Exercise group) returned the answer forms. The results showed that subjects in both the seminar group and the exercise group had reduced their frequency of fruit intake (Seminar group, p < .05; exercise group, p < .01) and their consideration of the types of carbohydrate ingested (Seminar group, p < .01; exercise group, p < .05). This was thought to be influenced by factors such as food availability, subjects' physical and psychological factors, living environment factors, and traditional food culture. Eight items that served to sustain desirable dietary habits all seemed to be related to being easy to achieve and easy to continue for the subjects. Individuals with desirable lifestyle habits might return to their original lifestyle eventually. Therefore, even if intervention has been effective, the effects are not necessarily maintained throughout their lifetime.
ABSTRACT
The present multicenter, open-label study evaluated the efficacy and safety of tapentadol ER administered at 50 mg/day to 500 mg/day in opioid-naive and opioid-switching subjects with moderate to severe cancer pain. For opioid-naive subjects, the initial dose was tapentadol ER 50 mg/day. For opioid-switching subjects, the initial dose was determined depending on previously used opioid and was dose-adjusted for each subject. The study design consists of two parts of titration period and maintenance period to which a patient who achieves dose adjustment can proceed. The percentage of subjects achieving dose adjustment in the titration period was 93.3% for opioid-naive subjects and 80.6% for opioid-switching subjects. The percentage of subjects who maintained adequate analgesia throughout the maintenance period (primary endpoint) was 89.7% for opioid-naive subjects and 92.9% for opioid-switching subjects. The most frequent adverse events were were nausea, vomiting, somnolence, and constipation, all of which were commonly reported with the use of opioids. These findings showed that tapentadol ER was well tolerated in the dose range of 50 mg/day to 500 mg/day.
ABSTRACT
It was previously reported the safety and efficacy of oral tapentadol ER switched from other opioids for 8 weeks in subjects with moderate to severe cancer pain, who received opioid analgesics prior to study participation. All treatment emergent adverse events were evaluated in previous safety analysis. In this report, the incidence and timing of opioid specific adverse events related to tapentadol administration were analyzed and compared with those of morphine SR as a reference. Fifty subjects each was randomized to the tapentadol ER group and the morphine SR group. The incidences of major adverse events that are considered related to treatment in the tapentadol ER group and the morphine SR group were nausea (8.0%, 14.0%), vomiting (2.0%, 24.0%), constipation (8.0%, 20.0%), and somnolence (8.0%, 18.0%), the incidences of these events were lower in the tapentadol ER group. These results suggest that tapentadol ER is a orally opioid which has well safety profiles, and is a new option of cancer pain therapy.