Tamashiro H, Arakaki M, Futatsuka M, Lee E S
J Epidemiol Community Health. 1986 Jun;40(2):181-5. doi: 10.1136/jech.40.2.181.
This study examines mortality patterns by cause of death to investigate the effect of exposure to methylmercury in a small area of Minamata City (Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan), which has the highest concentration of patients with Minamata disease. Standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) are computed by cause of death for the study area, using the age specific rates of the entire city as a standard. The SMRs for liver cancer and chronic liver disease in the study area are significantly higher than unity and are consistent with the mortality patterns of registered Minamata disease patients. While an excess mortality is observed for cerebral haemorrhage, mortality from cerebral infarction and other cerebrovascular diseases is considerably lower in the study area. The multiple risk factors of liver related diseases and a possible explanation for the cerebrovascular mortality patterns are discussed to suggest further investigation.
本研究按死因审视死亡率模式，以调查日本熊本县水俣市一个小区域内甲基汞暴露的影响，该区域水俣病患者的浓度最高。以全市的年龄别死亡率为标准，计算研究区域内按死因划分的标准化死亡比（SMR）。研究区域内肝癌和慢性肝病的SMR显著高于1，且与登记的水俣病患者的死亡率模式一致。虽然观察到脑出血存在超额死亡率，但研究区域内脑梗死和其他脑血管疾病的死亡率则低得多。讨论了肝脏相关疾病的多种风险因素以及对脑血管死亡率模式的一种可能解释，以建议进一步开展调查。
