The bone density of os calcis were measured with ultrasonic bone densitometry in 6, 680 healthy rural women in Mie Prefecture. Serum BGP and B-ALP levels were measured in 350 and 450 randomly selected cases respectively. The relations between their titers and bone loss with advancing age were also assessed. The BGP and B-ALP values began to rise in those subjects aged around 45 years. The elevated levels seemed to be kept till they became 70 years old. In this period, they might have massive bone loss with a high bone turnover, if they did not have an adequate calcium intake and exercise.
During this longitudinal observation, we measured bone density in 795 women 1, 062 times over a period of five years, with the initial bone mass value set at 100% and all the subsequent values expressed as a percentage of the initial value. Its value increased for about 106% and decreased from 95 to 91% in five years. By age, its numbers increased for 30% to 40% for those in their 40s and 60s, respectively. Overall, the decreases were significant (p<0.05) but the increases were not significant. In the low bone density group with the initial values below 59, only 21 cases of the total 91 had increased values thereafter, but 78% of them had kept the initial values, so they were advised to use caution against bone fracture in daily life and suitable treatments were recommended.
Many factors are associated with osteporosis. Presumably, lifestyle improvements alone would not serve to prevent its outbreak, but the authors believe that the findings of this study may cast light on the issue of osteoporosis for Japan, whose population is rapidly aging.

Between September 1972 and December 1987, 808 gastric cancer patients were treated at our hospital. The male/female ratio was 1.7. Gastric resection was performed on 88% of the patients, while curative resection was performed on 59.2%. The operative mortarity rate was 1.8%.
In patients undergoing surgery, the cumulative 5-year survival rates according to stage were 96.4% for stage 1, 68.6% for stage 2, 48.7% for stage 3 and 4.5% for stage 4.
With the spread of a mass screening, many cases of early gastric cancer have been detected recently. However, the incidence of advance cancer increased with age. This suggests the necessity of encouraging the aged to participate in the mass screening. Though gastrectomy is safety procedure of encouraging the aged to participate in the mass screening. Though gastrectomy is safety procedure in old patients over 75 years of age, its indications should be evaluated taking into consideration the quality of the patient's life.

We reviewed 338 cases of colorectal cancer treated in our clinic since 1973. On these patients, 62% were aged 60 years or older.
By location, the malignant tumor was found most frequenty in the rectum, followed by the sigmoid colon.
Resection was perforoed in 94.3%, of the patients with curative resection accounted for 68.3%. In the curative resection group the cumulative 5-year and 10-year survival rates were 77% and 65, 9%, respectively.
Early colorectal cancer was detected in only 26 patients. Mass screening for colorectal cancer using occult blood tests of feces had just recently started in our communities. Thus, further efforts to detect early colorectal cancer are needed.