Mercury content in the gallstones and bile of Thai people (Chiang Mai and Bangkok) and Japanese.

Mercury contents in the gallstones and bile of patients living in Thailand (Chiang Mai and Bangkok) and Japan were studied by neutron activation analysis. The correlation between contents in the gallstones and bile, and the amount of mercury in the diet and environment was investigated by comparing the contents in patients living in three different areas. The content in the bile of the Japanese patients was significantly greater than that of the Thai patients. The distribution of mercury contents in the pigment and rare stones of patients living in Bangkok indicated a bipolarity. However, the distribution of the contents in cholesterol, pigment, and rare stones of Japanese patients did not indicate a bipolarity. Bipolarity would indicate the amount of mercury in dietary foods, and the pollution level of mercury. The mercury contents in the gallstones and bile would reflect the amount of mercury in the diet and environment.

Incidence of cholelithiasis in the northern part of Thailand.

It may be concluded from comparisons of recent u/s examinations in Northern Thailand to studies in Japan and to the gallstone study conducted over two decades ago that gallstone disease in Thailand is starting to exhibit the same situation as in the West. In comparing overall rates over time the gallstone incidence in Thailand appears to have climbed from 2.61 to 3.10 per cent (Fig. F). The rate increase is even more significant when broken down by sex (male: 1.89%--> 2.50%, female: 3.23%--> 3.70%). In addition, the present rates of female and male gallstone incidence in Northern Thailand closely match the rates found in studies of the Japanese population. Because gallstone disease has become a major public health problem in the West, a number of studies have emphasized the epidemiological characteristics of the disease in order to implement controls. As Thailand's gallstone problem seems to be heading towards the same level of importance further studies involving epidemiological factor linkage may be necessary and the technological advances in Ultrasonography make such studies quite feasible.