The HCV antibody positive rates of blood donors were studied in Yamaguchi Prefecture. C100-3 antibody was examined by the method of the 1st generation. The subjects were 146, 792 people who donated blood from Nov. 1989 to Dec. 1990. The average positive rate was 1.01% in Yamaguchi Prefecture. The positive rates of more than 3% were registered in four towns. In one town out of these four, the average positive rate was 22.0% It was extremely higher than the other three towns. Further study will be required to elucidate such regional differences in the HCV positive rate in the prefecture.

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.

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.

At institutions in 9 areas of all over Japan, epidemiological and clinical surveys and investigations have been performed on the relationship between alcohol drinking and health for inhabitants in agricultural and fishing villages. The ethanol cutaneous patch test showed about 40% ALDH2 defficiency in these subjects. There were remarkable defferences in the drinking behavior between these positive and negative 2 groups. Various factors affecting the drinking behavior of subjects are there congenital diathesis, sexual difference, natural and social differences as well as age and occupation. By drinking, various abnomalities have been observed in various indexes such as medical examinations namely, hepatic functions (γ-GTP, GOT, GTP, etc), lipids (HDL-C, TG, etc), circulating functions (blood pressure, pulse, etc), metabolisms (uric acid, blood sugar, etc), and pancreatic functions. Most of them are risk factors in adult diseases. Accordingly, through collective education for drinking, its effect can be observed earlier and it will be very important to educate individuals for health control.

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.

We gathered information of both drinking and smoking habits by questionnaires. Objects of our study were 246 male cases around Yanai City. These cases were divided into six groups. The 1st: less than 20 grams of ethyl alcohol daily and less than 10 cigarettes daily (56 cases). The 2nd: 20 grams and less than 10 cigarettes (39 cases). The 3rd: more than 40 grams daily and less than 10 cigarettes (36 cases). The 4th: less than 20 grams and more than 10 cigarettes (36 cases). The 5th: 20 grams and more than 10 cigarettes (23 cases). The 6th: more than 40 grams daily and more than 10 cigarettes (56 cases).
The 1st group was a control group, and was compared among the 4th, 5th and 6th group. Consequently obesity index and serum total protein level were decreased signifiacantly in the 5th and the 6th group. There were no significantly different items in the 4th group. It was thought that both drinking and smoking habits suppressed a nutritional state of a whole body.

Hematological values were studied in cases of a thorough physical examination, chronic hepatitis and alcoholic liver injury. Cases of a thorough physical examination were a control group. Only thrombocyte count was decreased in cases of chronic hepatitis as compared with a control group. On the other hand a red blood cell count, MCV, MCH and neutrophils were changed significantly in cases of alcoholic liver injury. A red blood cell count was decreased, but MCV, MCH and neutrophils were increased. Correlation between MCV and each item of liver function tests was studied. No significantly correlated item was found in a control group and cases of chronic hepatitis, but GOT/GPT, LDH and CHE were significantly correlated in cases of alcoholic liver injury.

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.

Liver function influenced by drinking were studied in cases of a thorough physical examination. Objects of our study were 172 cases who entered in our clinic during past two years. 172 cases were divided into three groups. 1st group was 70 cases who had drunk less than 20 grams of ethyl alcohol a day, 2nd group was 49 cases who had drunk 20 grams a day and 3rd group was 53 cases who had drunk 40 grams a day.
GOT, GOT/GPT, γ-GTP, CHE and LAP were changed significantly with the increase of drinking as a result of study of these three groups. Especially it was thought that GOT/GPT, γ-GTP and LAP reflected most sharply the grade of alcoholic liver injury.