title: The trend and magnitude of ischaemic heart disease in Japan.
abstract: The secular trends and present status in Japan of the incidence and prevalence of ischaemic heart disease, particularly acute myocardial infarction, have been debated between clinicians and epidemiologists. In order to have a clearer picture, available information from national mortality statistics, cardiovascular surveys and patient surveys have been scrutinized. Also pooled autopsy records and epidemiological studies on selected population groups have been studied. The findings are still controversial, but the tentative conclusion is that morbidity from acute myocardial infarction in Japan is still low and has increased only slightly, but signs of a change can be observed. Various confounding factors in mortality and morbidity statistics are presented and discussed. There is a need to develop monitoring systems to obtain more accurate information on the magnitude and secular trends of ischaemic heart disease.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality; D012737:Sex Factors