Abstract
To clarify the constitutional background of chronic diseases, 338 adult male Japanese in-patients admitted to the Dept, of Internal Medicine, Sasa Hospital, Tokyo were somatotyped using Sheldon's method, based on the observation of standard photographs and the height/weight-ratio index.
The subjects were classified into five clinical groups, i. e., hypertensive, chronic digestive, sugar metabolic (diabetic), chronic hepatic and other non-chronic diseases groups. The mean somatotypes for these groups were 4.46-4.53-2.20 (endomorphic mesomorphy), 3.4-4.5-3.0 (mesomorphy), 4.3-4.6-2.3 (endomorphic mesomorphy), 3.8-4.3-2.8 (mild endomorphic mesomorphy) and 3.3-4.5-3.3 (mesomorphy), respectively. Statistical analysis of three somatotypic components showed some significant differences between groups in somatotype distribution.
The mesomorphic (second) component was relatively dominant in every group, as in the normal Japanese male population. The endomorphic (first) component was high in the hypertensive and the sugar metabolic groups, and moderately found in the chronic hepatic group. The ectomorphic (third) component showed a lesser degree of development in the groups of chronic diseases than in the group of non-chronic ones.
From the results, it is suggested that some chronic diseases are closely related to constitutional factors, which are manifested as somatotypological characteristics.
