Objective To evaluate the effects of the chronic Keshan disease's self-management in Liangshan Prefecture of Sichuan Province. Methods According to "The Serf Management Program of Chronic Keshan Disease in Liangshen Prefecture of Sichuan Province", 56 chronic Keshan disease patients were selected in the personalized self-manngemant evaluation under the instructions by endemic disease specialists and the rural doctors. Evaluation was based on changes of indexes such as the clinical symptoms, general health conditions, the electrocardiogram, X-ray, the heart function, etc, before treatment and 3 and 6 months following the treatment. Results Clinical signs and symptoms of the patients were significantly improved 3 and 6 months after the treatment, and the improvement was more obvious 6 months than 3 months following the treatment(P<0.05 or< 0.01). After treatment for 3 months, the patients'electrocardingram and heart function did not show obvious change (X2=0.05,039, P0.05); hut obvious improvements Eexcept X ray results(X2=0.61 ,P0.05)] were seen 6 months after treatment (X2=4.36,16.84, P<0.05 or<0.01). Altogether, among the 56 patients evaluated after treatment for 6 months, none achieved the clinical cure standard, 26 cases(46.3%) showed significant improvement, 17 cases (30.4%) were stable, 5 cases (8.9%) were aggravated,one case (1.8%) lost contact, and 6 cases (10.6%) died. Conclusion The project of the chronic Keshan disease's self-management is suitable for the present situati,on of the endemic regions and can he introduced to many places in our country.

Objective To study the epidemiological characteristics of Keshan disease(KD) and its fiend so as to provide evidences for further research,prevention and treatment of the disease in Sichuan province.Methods Based on KD related data from 1990 to 2008,descriptive method was used to analyze the epidemiological characteristics of KD.Results 87 KD cases were identified during the 19 years.All cases were children from the countryside,with majority of them were Yi nationality.Age of the patients ranged from 5 months to 18 years,with majority at 2-6 year-olds.The annual incidence rates Were from 0/100 000 to 1.73/100 000 with 1999 the highest(1.73/100 000).A total number of 310 preclinical or chronic KD cases were identified and the total detection rates were between 0.28% and 2.8%.with 1992 the highest.As for levels of blood selenium during the 19 years:1995 appeared the lowest(0.1345 μg/g),followed by 1990-2000(0.1558 μg/g) but all of them fell in to the level in the KD epidemic areas.Conclusion There were 5 stages in the development trend of KD disease in Sichuan province,with 2 ascending and 3 descending.The differences between any of the two stages were statistically significant.The 3 descending stages all appeared right after the selenium supplement intervention was taken.Our data showed that the program of selenium supplement was closely related to the incidence of KD,suggesting that a long term mechanism of Selenium supplement in the epidemic areas should be taking into account.