Report on the results of the eleventh medical examination of atomic bomb survivors resident in North America

The 11th medical examination of A-bomb survivors was conducted in 1997. Two medical teams conducted health examinations in Los Angeles and Seattle, and in San Francisco and Hawaii, respectively. The total number of A-bomb survivors resident in North America as of the end of July 1997 was 1,060, an increase of 17 over that confirmed in 1995. The number of survivors exposed <2,000-m from the hypocenter was 234, accounting for 22.1% of the total. The confirmed number of in-utero exposed survivors was 26. As to the past medical history information, breast cancer, thyroid cancer, and heart disease were frequently observed in the <2,000-m group. Frequent subjective symptoms include complete exhaustion or fatigue, loss of vigor, blurring of vision, itching of the skin, which were reported in more than 40% of the survivors. The frequencies of nocturia, nervousness, severe headache, and excessive sweating in cold weather were higher in the <2,000-m group. Chest pain was seen frequently in the <2,000-m group for males, but no difference was observed in females. Nocturia was observed in more than half of the males in the <2,000-m group. There were 99 cases (22.8%) with fasting plasma glucose level of 110 mg/dl or above, consisting of 39 males (32.0%) and 60 females (19.2%). Abnormal HbA1c levels were observed in 33 cases (7.6%), including 12 males (9.8%) and 11 females (6.7%). The proportion of cases with abnormal HbA1c levels was higher in males. No difference by exposure status was observed either for fasting plasma glucose or HbA1c. The disease of the highest prevalence was hyperlipidemia (57.4%), followed by hypertension (35.0%), obesity (27.2%), liver disease (21.9%), thyroid disease (20.0%), gastrointestinal disease (20.7%), heart disease (13.4%) and urological disease (12.9%). Malignant tumors were observed in two cases in L.A., two in Seattle, and one in S.F. Cancer will be important issue in the future examinations. (K.H.)