title: Characteristics of upper digestive tract diseases in Bohai Bay fishermen.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the characteristics of upper digestive tract diseases (UDTDs) in fishermen who live in Bohai Bay.
  
  
  METHODS
  An investigation was carried out in 1488 fishermen with symptoms of UDTDs (aside from liver, biliary and pancreatic diseases) during the time period between December 1991 and February 1995. This investigation included medical history evaluations, physical, gastroscopic and pathological examinations, tests for Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, and analysis of the nitrate content in their drinking water.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the 1488 subjects investigated, 1467 suffered from one or more of the 14 UDTD diseases, most of which were chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG, 1103 cases), peptic ulcers (268 cases), and cancer of the upper digestive tract (25 cases).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The incidence rate of UDTDs tends to be high among fishermen due to their particular living habits, the high nitrate content of their drinking water, etc. In addition, the clinical manifestations of UDTDs in fishermen are significantly different from those of the inland residents.
authors.affiliation: Yuan-Ben Wang, Yuan-Ping Wang, Jing Zou, Department of Gastroenterology, 271 Hospital of PLA, Tianjin 300191, China.
authors.forename: Y B
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Yuan-Ben Wang, Yuan-Ping Wang, Jing Zou, Department of Gastroenterology, 271 Hospital of PLA, Tianjin 300191, China.
authors.forename: Y P
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Yuan-Ben Wang, Yuan-Ping Wang, Jing Zou, Department of Gastroenterology, 271 Hospital of PLA, Tianjin 300191, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Yuan-Ben Wang, Yuan-Ping Wang, Jing Zou, Department of Gastroenterology, 271 Hospital of PLA, Tianjin 300191, China.
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: Yuan-Ben Wang, Yuan-Ping Wang, Jing Zou, Department of Gastroenterology, 271 Hospital of PLA, Tianjin 300191, China.
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Yuan-Ben Wang, Yuan-Ping Wang, Jing Zou, Department of Gastroenterology, 271 Hospital of PLA, Tianjin 300191, China.
authors.forename: B Q
authors.initials: BQ
authors.lastname: Cai
keywords: Digestive system neoplasms; Digestive tract disease; Gastritis, atrophic; Gastroscopy; Helicobacter pylori; Peptic ulcer; nitrate