The Epidemiology of Diabetes Mellitus in Hiroshima and Nagasaki

The populations of the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC) have provided a unique opportunity to investigate the epidemiology of a number of diseases in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.' An earlier detailed study of diabetes mellitus by Rudnick and Anderson of about one third of the Hiroshima sample demonstrated that the prevalence of diabetes was comparable to that of Oxford, Massachusetts, and commented on the reversal of sex ratio in Japanese diabetes.' Many features of diabetes mellitus are remarkably different in Japan and Western countries. Atherosclerosis, ketoacidosis, and juvenile diabetes are rare in the Japanese. On the other hand, retinopathy, proteinuria, and ketone response to noreprinephrine are comparable to Western experience. These data have recently been reviewed elsewhere.' Reported here are the data on diabetes mellitus collected from the entire ABCC study population at the 1st and 2nd examinations (1958-60, 1960-62) and a comparison of the epidemiology of this disease in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The differences in the two communities provide some