Mortality rate of amyloidosis in Japan: secular trends and geographical variations

The death rate in Japan from amyloidosis was analyzed using Japanese Vital Statistics for 1969-1985. The amyloidosis death rate has increased gradually year by year for both sexes. The changing patterns in mortality might be explained by a constantly improving ascertainment of amyloidosis. The overall amyloidosis death rate per 100,000 of the population was 0.06 during the period from 1969 to 1978. The geographical variations in the amyloidosis death rate were observed with the highest death rate in Kumamoto and Nagano prefectures (0.29 per 100,000 population) for both sexes during the period from 1979 to 1985. The amyloidosis death rates (per 100,000 population) in 2 large foci of familial amyloidosis polyneuropathy were 9.4 in Ogawa Village, Nagano Prefecture and 3.5 in Arao City, Kumamoto Prefecture during the period from 1979 to 1985. The mean age at death from amyloidosis gradually increased year by year for both sexes, although the age was 11-23 years shorter for males and 20-25 years shorter for females than that of the general population.