We have done the questionnaire about patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in Yamaguchi prefecture. The result was that 304 cases were answered. The mean age was 62.1 years old, and the ratio of male to female was 3.7 to 1. Abdominal ultrasonography was examined most frequently, and the next was computed tomography as the method of diagnosis. The serum α-fetoprotein level showed less than 400ng/ml in cases of 49.3%. HBs antigen was positive in cases of 15.9%. Positive cases were significantly lower in the mean age as compared with negative cases, and the ratio of male to female was 8.2 to 1. Liver cirrhosis was complicated in cases of 84%.

A first case is a 43-year-old male. He was admitted after hard drinking, and died two days later for hepatic coma. It is thought that this case applies to a diagnostic criteria of severe alcoholic hepatitis made by a Japanese reserch group about the relation of alcohol to liver. A second case is a 45-year-old male. He was also admitted after hard drinking, but he recovered rapidly. This case was diagnosed as Zieve's syndrome, because hyperlipemia and hemolytic anemia were found.
Volumes of liver and spleen in these two cases were examined by computed tomography. Volumes of liver were more increased and those of spleen were more decreased than those of controls. In a second case a volume of liver was decreased gradually, and that of spleen was increased with recovery from sickness. It is thought that a volume of liver is increased in a patient with alcoholic hepatitis, because liver cells fall into ballooning. But the cause is unknown as yet that a volume of spleen is decreased.

The ratio of men to women was studied in 331 patients hospitalized into our department for the past three years for various liver diseases. Two factors seemed to affect the sex difference in the morbidity of liver disease. One was a history of drinking, the other a positive ratio of HBs antigen. So, heavy drinkers and HBs antigen positive cases were excluded from the patients with chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, and the male/female ratio was studied again. The ratio of men to women in the patients with liver cirrhosis was 1.3: 1, 4. 1: 1 in the patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and 2.0: 1 in the patients with chronic hepatitis. The male ratio was strikingly high in the case of hepatocellular carcinoma. It is thought that liver cirrhosis is a cause of hepatocellular carcinoma. And then differences in the results of liver function tests between men and women were studied in the patients with liver cirrhosis. However, no remarkable difference was found between men and women.

We gathered information of both drinking and smoking habits by questionnairing. The subjects of our study were 116 men around Yanai City. They were divided into five groups. 1st: neither drinking nor smoking habits (23 cases). 2nd: 20 or 40 grams of ethyl alcohol daily and no smoking habit (31 cases). 3rd: more than 40 grams daily and more than 10 cigarettes (32 cases). 4th: 20 grams daily and more than 10 cigarettes (16 cases). 5th: no drinking habit and more than 10 cigarettes daily (14 cases).
The 1st group was a control group, and was compared with the 2nd, 3rd 4th and 5th groups. Consequently both systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels rose significantly only in the 3rd group. Only systolic blood pressure level rose significantly in the 4th group. And so it was suggested that both drinking and smoking habits raised both systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels.

The subjects are 223 women who participated in a mass medical examination. Their ages are between 40 and 79 years. We divided them into four age groups, and studied how aging and obesity influenced their physical health. The results showed the obesity index and serum total protein level were significantly low in the 70-to-79 age group. The serum total cholesterol level was significantly high in the age group between 40 and 50, and it was thought that the elevated cholesterol levels were due to menopause. Thus in females this suggests that a great physical change occurs first in the age group between 40 and 50, and second in the age group between 60 and 70.
Using 165 female cases whose ages were between 40 and 69 years were subdivided into four obesity index groups, we studied how the obesity influenced their physical health. The results showed that the problems include the elevation of diastolic blood pressure levels and serum uric acid levels.

To find a link between lifestyle and arteriosclerosis, the serum lipid values were studied in those who had entered our hospital for a thorough physical examination. The subjects were 136 men and 31 women. They were divided into six groups. 1st: neither drinking nor smoking habits (24 cases). 2nd: 20 or 40 grams of ethyl alcohol daily and no smoking habit (45 cases). 3rd: more than 40 grams daily and more than 10 cigarettes (21 cases). 4th: 20 grams daily and more than 10 cigarettes (25 cases). 5th: no drinking habit and more than 10 cigarettes daily (21 cases). 6th: women who had neither drinking nor smoking habits (31 cases).
The 2nd group was a control group, and was compared with each group. It was found that only TG values were significantly high in the 3rd group. HDL-C values were significantly low in the 5th group. There were no significant differences in the 1st and 4th groups. T-CHO and LDL-C values were significantly high in the 6th group. These facts suggest that it is difficult to correlate both drinking and smoking habits with the incidence of arteriosclerosis. And perhaps it is the same in women, because LDL-C values were high in women, but at the same time HDL-C values were high.