Nihon eiseigaku zasshi. Japanese journal of hygiene
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Nihon Eiseigaku Zasshi · Oct 1996
Review[Epidemiology of lung cancer and prevention strategy in Japan].
The incidence of and mortality from lung cancer have been increasing rapidly during recent decades in Japan, and in 1993 lung cancer became the leading cause of death from cancer in males. This increasing tendency is most striking for older age groups, especially those above 70 years of age. The incidence of multiple cancers related to lung cancer has been also increasing. ⋯ When divided by histologic type, above 90% of cases of squamous cell carcinoma and small cell carcinoma can be explained by direct smoking, while this is true for only about 40% of adenocarcinomas. Although the efficacy of lung cancer screening is still controversial, its role in lung cancer control strategy appears to be limited. Therefore, a multi-disciplinary control program, including anti-smoking activity, chemoprevention and early detection by new techniques should be developed.
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Securing access to medical services, controlling costs and improving quality are goals of health care system. Although they are all the same all over the country, each country has its own culture, health care system and health care problems. In the United States, employer-based and individual purchases of private health insurance coverage play a major role, although governmental programs such as Medicaid and Medicare exist for the poor and the elderly. ⋯ However, it is difficult to improve the quality of health care services within the present system. Japan can learn the system about disclosure of health care information from the managed care in the U. S.
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Nihon Eiseigaku Zasshi · Oct 1996
[The national health service in the United Kingdom-past, present and future].
Britain's National Health Service (NHS) came into existence in 1948. It was the first comprehensive health system in any Western society to be based on the national provision of services and to offer free medical care to the entire population. The NHS has gone through several developments since, in particular the reorganisations of 1974 and 1982 and the general management overhaul of 1984. ⋯ The plan rejects the use of competition in the NHS and promises to reverse recent developments, reasserting the importance of the original principles of the NHS. It is too early to reach a verdict on the British experiment. Given the direction of change in Labour's thinking and the fact that the current reforms by the Conservatives are becoming more and more firmly embedded, almost anything is possible.
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Nihon Eiseigaku Zasshi · Jul 1996
[Particle numbers in classified sizes of roadside dust caused by studded tires in the air at different heights from the pavement surface].
Increased use of motor vehicles has produced various risks to human health due to air pollution by noxious gases, heavy metals and roadside dust. Since the late 1970s, the wide spread use of studded tires for cars has caused pavement wear, resulting in not only economic losses, but also roadside air pollution in cold and snowy regions in Japan. The most serious environmental problem in Sapporo, a city with heavy snowfall, in the 1980s, was roadside dust derived from studded tires. ⋯ To investigate the influence of such roadside dust upon human health, particle numbers in classified sizes of roadside dust were counted after the roadside dust in the air was collected with a device we constructed at 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, and 180 cm above the pavement surface. The results indicated that the concentration of roadside dust in the air did not greatly vary according to the height from the pavement surface. The results also suggested that xenogranuloma, reported in lungs of stray dogs, under roadside dust-pollution conditions such as those examined here, may occur in humans in the future.
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Japan was defeated in World War II and almost all of the nation was demoralized by the destruction and damage to much of the nation. The medical and health care system during and before World War II needed to be reformed radically and fundamentally since almost all medical and health institutes were destroyed. On the other hand, many health personnel came back from overseas after the war. ⋯ As for medical care services, many new medical needs have emerged in recent years, including "quality of life," "palliative medicine in terminal care," "establishment of a primary care system" and "comprehensive care connecting health and medical care with welfare" etc. Improved living standards resulting from economic growth, called the "economic miracle" internationally, have helped to bring about a rapid and wide range of change in daily lifestyle, such as eating habits, working conditions and environment. The Ministry of Health and Welfare has made every effort to revise the laws in relation to health and medical care systems, in order to adjust to recent