Abstract
In the study of arteriosclerosis, when it is questioned whether a physiological change or a lesional change, the mean aging trend, individual characteristics by age and individual changes with passage of time are essential to solve the question.
In this paper aortic properties were evaluated noninvasively by a method of aortic pulse wave velocity measurement, and characteristics by aging, individual and sex as well as long-term individual changes with passage of time on aortosclerosis were studied.
Subjects
(1) Aging and Individual Characteristics
The 114 in- and outpatients of both sexes with myocardial infarction or cerebral infarction, as well as 428 in- and outpatients of both sexes with diabetes under treatment for longer than 3 years were used, having 41, 046 healthy Japanese from 0 to the seventies in their age including the personnels of Toho University Hospital and Social Insurance Omiya General Hospital and their family members and those showing none of abnormalities upon the group examination conducted by the Epidemic Institute of Arteriosclerosis, Health and Welfare Association as the control.
(2) Sex
The subject used was the same as the abovementioned control with their age being ranged from the twenties to the seventies including 17, 914 males and 5, 155 females, 23, 069 in total.
(3) Long-term Individual Characteristics with Passage of Time
The subject used was 368 male and female exaxminees of the group examination with their age being ranged from the thirties to the seventies. Pulse wave velocity was measured regularly once a year together with the measurements of urine sugar, urine albumin, ophthalmodynamography, ECG and blood pressure for many consecutive years, namely, from 5 to 12 years.
Results
(1) Mean values of the aortic pulse wave velocity gradually increased as the age advanced, and after 40 years of age the standard deviations also increased rapidly. It explains that although aortosclerosis increases as the age advances, individual characteristics become more accurate after the forties and fifties.
(2) Although slightly, sexual characteristics were observed on distribution by age of aortosclerosis.
(3) Between the individuals the time course change patterns of aortic pulse wave velocities were compared. Regardless of age, sex and the initial value, the individual difference was large, ranging widely from that with no increase after 10 years to that with an increase of 3 m/sec, from 8m/sec to 11m/sec.
(4) Arteriosclerosis developed at a sharp gradient with advance of age, and significant difference was noted between that before the forties and that after the fifties.
