In Japan, hypertension and cerebrovascular diseases are reported to be more prevalent in rural than in urban areas, while the age-corrected prevalence of ischemic cardiac diseases is thought to be higher in urban areas. Not all rural areas show the same cardiovascular disease prevalence trend, however. In recent years in particular, the pace of urbanization of life-style has differed significantly from one region to another, a major factor contributing to regional differences in the cardiovascular morbidity pattern in rural areas. Another contributing factor is the fact that the aging of the population is progressing more rapidly in some areas than in others. As a whole, however, salt consumption is still greater is rural areas than in urban areas, although it has decreased significantly in recent years. Animal fat consumption is still smaller in rural than in urban areas. It is recommend-ed that cardiac disease prevention measures with special focus on problems specific to rural areas be taken, while maintaining good life-style in these areas. For example, there are a number of reports that serum cholesterol levels are similar in rural and urban areas in children, although they are lower in the former than in the latter in adults. When discussing cardiac diseases in rural areas from a long-term prospective, therefore, this fact must also be taken into account. Since the growing total number of elderly patients with cardiac diseases is expected to be much greater in rural areas than in urban areas, appropriate countermeasures, including the development of convenient diagnostic methods, care and rehabilitation methods, and creation of treatment facilities, are urgently required in rural areas. As mentioned above, each rural area has its own characteristics and problems. For this reason, it is desirable that appropriate measures be implemented taking into account the different characteristics of each region, backgrounds of disease and various risk factors. This paper therefore presents rural area-specific characteristics and problems related to major diseases.
