Panic disorder cases in Japanese-Brazilians in Japan: their ethnic and cultural confusion.

The comparatively high salaries made in Japan are attractive to many Japanese-Brazilians. The number of individuals from this ethnic group being treated in Japanese mental hospitals has increased. We hypothesized that Japanese-Brazilian patients with panic disorders adjusted better to Japanese society and culture than those with other mental disorders. The subjects in the present study are 40 Japanese-Brazilian patients undergoing treatment at the Department of Psychiatry at Jichi Medical School, Japan, from May 1990 to September 1998. Patients were divided into a panic disorder group, a schizophrenic group, a mood disorder group and a neurosis group. Demographic data (Japanese language ability, duration of residence in Japan etc.) were collected. A comparison was made among the four groups. Patients in the panic disorder group showed a significant tendency to be fluent speakers of Japanese. Patients in the panic disorder group also had been in Japan for a significantly longer period of time than those in the other three groups. Japanese ability and length of residence in Japan rule out exacerbating factors due to a foreign living environment. Panic disorder patients usually have resolved the problems inherent in living and working in a foreign country. In general, Japanese-Brazilians are more comfortable both financially and socially in Japan than other foreign laborers because of their cultural and family background. The emotional conflict experienced by such patients may result from concern over whether to live in Brazil or Japan in the future. Their ethnic and cultural identity may be confused, fluctuating between identifying with Brazil and with Japan, and this may cause vague feelings of anxiety.

Atmospheric mercury concentrations in the basin of the amazon, Brazil.

A wide regional mercury pollution in Amazon, Brazil is closely associated with goldmining that has been carried out in the basin of tributaries of the Amazon since the eighteenth century. Possible involvement has been discussed on atmospheric circulation in distributing the volatile pollutant. We developed a portable air sampler for the collection of mercury compounds and determined atmospheric mercury concentrations at several sites in Brazil including the basin of the Amazon tributaries. The mean concentration of total mercury was between 9.1 and 14.0 ng/m(3) in the basin of the Uatumã River located in the tropical rain forest far from goldmining sites and from urbanized area. These mercury levels exceeded the background level previously reported in rural area and, furthermore, were higher than concentrations observed in Rio de Janeiro and in Manaus that were compatible with the reference values for urban area. Mercury concentrations were also determined in gold refineries in the basin of the Tapajos River, and detected at a significant but not a health deteriorating level. Although only preliminary data were available, the present observations were in favor of the hypothesis that mercury is distributed widely by long distant transport by the atmospheric circulation after released at gold mining sites.