Abstract
It is well known that some social background in Japan including dietary custom has been changing in recent years. Some changes may have influenced the Japanese peptic ulcers. The purpose of this report is to find out some of the changes of gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer or both in endoscopic findings and clinical features over recent years compared with ten to fifteen years ago. Of 1, 995 patients who underwent the first endoscopic examination by a special endoscopist at Tohoku Rosai General Hospital in five years starting from 1979, 424 patents were classified into the former group (diagnosed as gastric ulcer, duoderlal ulcer, or both). Of 1, 776 patients in five years starting from 1988, 343 patients were classified into the latter group. Comparative study was made in terms of sex, age, complications, endoscopic findings of peptic ulcers. As a result, the following were recognized; 1) decreased incidence of gastric ulcer and increased incidence of duodenal ulcer (especially zn younger generation and female), 2) increase in ulcers at body of the stomach (P<0.05), 3) decrease in large, deep ulcers and inlcrease in small, shallow ulcers (P<0.05). They may be the causess of ulcer in accordance with changes in social background.
