With an aim at reducing the incidence of cerebral apoplexy to half in three years, the Institute of Community Medicine, the University of Tsukuba, worked out a community health program for the inhabitants of Oho-machi, a predominantly rural community in Ibaraki Prefecture.
A cerebrovascular disease prevention council was set up in the town to map out plans to execute health care services. An expert committee was set up to formulate health examination standards and health guidance. The governance of the health grogram is to be transferred from the Institute to the town council.
Initially, considerable effort was exerted to encourage inhabitants to participate in the mass health screening. With importance placed on livelihood and health guidance, effort was made to increase the efficiency as well as the quality of the self-governing health care delivery.
As a result, the health examination attendance has been increased and health conditions improved remarkably. Particularly, the cardiovascular disease death rate has gone down ward among the inhabitants at the prime of life.

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The structures and functions of community organizations engaging in prophylaxis against hypertension and stroke were investigated in Yamagata Prefecture. One hundred and fifteen organizations responded to the survey. Response rate was 94.3%(115/122)(first survey).
Further, a second survey investigated the systems and activities of these 115 organizations for families containing such disabled members as stroke patients, bed-ridden people etc.
The results obtained were as follows:
(1) The 115 organizations could be classified into some types according to structure and management, trait of leader, and content of activity. They were also categorized into 5 types using cluster analysis of 41 variables.
(2) Types of active organizations in rural areas were different from those in urban areas. Active organizations in rural areas tended to exist in locations where the other activities were also high activity by community hall or agricultural cooperative association, whereas energetic activity was found in organizations conducted by female leaders in urban areas.
(3) It was shown that 40% of these 115 organizations had some activity for supporting the families with disabled members. Thirty per cent of the 115 organizations helped the families containing bed-ridden members.
(4) The frequency of mass-screening for circulatory diseases in 42 towns and villages of Yamagata Prefecture was examined in relation to the distribution of 115 community organizations and the features of their activities. Cases of creative activities were observed even in the areas where the rate of mass-screening is not high.

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This paper reports the changes in the activity and isozyme pattern of serum LDH in healthy young men given a low protein diet (0.73-0.75/kg body weight; 40-50g/day) for 21 days.
Serum total LDH activity showed no significant change in eight healthy young volunteers who received low protein diet for 21 days. However, the percentages of LDH-5 and LDH-4 increased significantly (P<0.01) from basal levels of 5.9±2.3 and 7.1±1.4 to 10.6±2.9% and 10.1±0.9%, respectively on day 14.
These results suggest that measurements of the percentages of LDH-4 and LDH-5 isozymes can be used to evaluate the protein intake, but serum LDH activity cannot be used as an index of nutrition.

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To estimate the danger of secondary poisoning, pesticide concentrations have been measured experimentally in the washings of pesticide-soiled clothes.
From the clothes exposed to pesticides about a year ago, 2 to 3% Bordeaux mixture (in terms of copper concentration) was eluted. The ratio of organophosphorous pesticides ranged from 7 to 14%.
The elution ratios varied depending on the material of clothes rather than the amount of the chemicals that had soaked into the fabrics. In the chemical fabrics, the elution ratios were high and the organophosphorous pesticides dissolved quickly. Even four weeks after exposure, the ratios came to 50% for Bordeaux mixtures and 7% for organophosphorous compounds.
In the clothes blotted with Bordeaux mixtures, the pH levels did not decrease, remaining high in four weeks.
From the above findings, it can be said that it would be injurious to health to wear pesticide-soiled clothes in a short period of time after exposure.

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The Kofu Basin in Yamanashi Prefecture, Central Japan, was one of the major areas where the incidence of a parasitic disease known as schistosomiasis japonica was particularly high in this country. Even today, the eggs of the parasite, Schistoma japonicum, are often detected by histopatholpgical examination. Photographic examination also reveals liver complications associated with blood fluke infection.
The present paper reports the detection ratios of S. japonicum eggs and schistosome-causing liver disease registered in our laboratory.
(1) The tetection ratio in nectrops was 43.0%.
(2) The egg examination of surgically resected specimens resulted in the egg detection ratio of 25.0 for the liver, 6.3% for the stomach, 6.8% for the duodenum, 27.7% for the large intestine, 8.6 for the appendix, 1.4% for the gallbladder and 10.7% for the-lymph node.
(3) Biopsy specimens: 12.6% for the liver, 0.4% for the stomach; 3.0% for the duodenum; 5.9% for the large intestine; and 4.8% for the lung.
(4) Age-wise ratios by histopathological examinat on: 1.2% in 40-49; 2.2% in 50-59; 3.5% in 60-69; 8.2% in 70-79; 10.1 in 80-89.
(5) The diagnositc ratio of schistosome-associated liver disease by ultrasonics wave test was 62.1% while the detection ratio of the same disease by supersonic wave examination was 3.5%.
(6) The diagnostic ratio of the schistosome-asscciated liver disease by CT was 42.1%.

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We reviewed a total of 23 cases of multiple myeloma that were treated in our hospital during the six-year period between January 1978 and December 1983. It was found that the majority of the multiple myeloma patients (52.2%) had complained of pain in the lumbar spine area when they visited our office. It was also made clear that it had taken considerably long before definitive diagnosis for those patients with low back pain when compared with the patients with other complaints.
Furthermore, we went over the results of some of the routine tests conducted at their first visits. These tests are often included in the mass health screening program.
We found that ZTT levels were abnormal in 90.9% of the multiple myeloma patients, Ch-E in 82.6% and A/G ratio in 73.9%.
These resuits suggest that doctors should suspect multiple myeloma and indicate further examinations when ZTT values were found abnormally high or low among elderly people complaining of low back pain by clinial or mass health examination.

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