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In years 1984-1986 582 men and 338 women have been registered with clinical diagnosis of cerebral stroke. The respective numbers in the Tarnobrzeg province were 340 and 263. Preliminary diagnosis of cerebral stroke was confirmed according to criteria of registration in 82% of men or women from Warsaw and in 81% of men and 84% of women in the Tarnobrzeg province . Standardized incidence due to cerebral stroke was significantly higher in every of analysed years in the Warsaw population both among men and women in compare with that in the Tarnobrzeg province . In both population studied the incidence was significantly higher among men than among women. Standardized fatality during 28 days from the start of sickness was higher in the Tarnobrzeg province population than in the Warsaw population so far as both men and women are concerned. In both populations among men and women the most frequently diagnosis was acute disease of cerebral vessels.

There are significant differences in plasma total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides and blood pressure, prevalence of cigarette smoking, obesity, education level and alcohol consumption found between the rural and industrial populations in Poland. It was found that the differences in plasma lipids and lipoproteins concentration are related to the differences in age, sex, education level, alcohol consumption, obesity, cigarette smoking and blood pressure. Increase of education level was related to increase in plasma concentration of total cholesterol. LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides but it was related to decrease of HDL-cholesterol. After the adjustment to all above factors the differences in total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol between the studied populations appeared insignificant. The differences in HDL-cholesterol and triglycerides remained significant.

Comparison of the parameters of obesity between two populations, urban from Warsaw and agricultural-industrial from Tarnobrzeg province revealed that skinfolds thickness, Quetelet index and body fat index, and per cent of overweight were statistically significantly higher in men from urban population. In the group of women these parameters were also statistically higher in Warsaw population with the exception of triceps skinfold and Quetelet index--differences of no statistical significance. There were also differences in the set of variables which correlate with the parameters of obesity between these two tested populations.

In years 1984-1986 3639 men and 1885 women were registered with suspected myocardial infarction from right-side Warsaw, simultaneously 2371 men and 917 women with the same suspected disease were registered from the Tarnobrzeg province population. The myocardial infarction diagnosis was confirmed in 54% of men and 43% of women from the Warsaw population as well as in 77% of men and 66% of women from Tarnobrzeg province population. In Warsaw the standardized incidence due to myocardial infarction increased during years of study from 466 to 588/100,000 among men and from 178 to 206/100,000 among women. The analogous increase among the Tarnobrzeg province population was 302 to 559/100,000 among men and 64 to 195 among women. Fatality during 28 days from the onset of the disease did not show any relationship with year of study and corresponded yearly among men to 45% and among women to 37% in Warsaw and to 42% among men and 33% among women in the Tarnobrzeg province . High fatality was noted during first 24 hours of hospitalization (Warsaw: 36% among men and 26% among women, Tarnobrzeg: 39% among men and 32% among women). The highest fatality was noted in the youngest of analysed groups.

According to the POL-MONICA program basing on screening studies of random population samples of two Warsaw districts and the Tarnobrzeg provinceip the detectability of arterial hypertension (AH), the AH treatment fact, the effectiveness+ of AH treatment and the populational control of AH has been evaluated. The AH control was better in Warsaw (men 55%, women 73%) than in the Tarnobrzeg province (men 44%, women 65%). In both populations the control was better among women than among men and increased with the age of subjects investigated. In both populations the treatment was introduced only in half of detected AH and increased also with the age of subjects studied. Only 20% men and 25% of women in Warsaw and 35% of men and 42% of women in the Tarnobrzeg province was effectively treated. The AH control in the Warsaw population was twice a lower than in the Tarnobrzeg province (Warsaw: men 5%, women 10%, Tarnobrzeg: men 7%, women 16%). Exceptionally bad control of HT has been stated in the youngest and the middle age men group in Warsaw (2.9%). The patterns studied with the use of MLF functions in both population studied have significant influence on the detectability and the AH treatment fact and remain without the influence of effectivity of treatment.

The coefficients and trends of mortality in years 1976-1987, based on data of Central Statistical Office, has been estimated in population of men and women aged 25 to 64 years, inhabitants of the Warsaw city region or the county region of Tarnobrzeg province . The trend of decrease of general mortality due to diseases of circulatory system has been statistically significant one similarly as that of mortality due to other heart diseases or ischaemic heart disease in men (group aged 25-34 or 35-44 years) in the Tarnobrzeg province . The analogously significant trend of mortality due to diseases of circulatory system or ischemic heart diseases in men aged 35-44 years has been stated in the Warsaw inhabitants. In the group of women an increase of general mortality has been noted in the youngest age group in Warsaw. In Warsaw and the Tarnobrzeg province in 1987 deaths due to diseases of circulatory system represented 33.2% and 39.9%, respectively, of total death pool among subjects aged 25 to 64 years. The respective percentages in the group of women were 29.1% and 39.4%.

Basing on results of first screening of the Pol-MONICA Project in 1984 in two centres that is the Tarnobrzeg province and two districts of Polish capital Warsaw (Praga South and Praga North) the level of 11 main coronary disease risk factors was compared in 2469 men and 2729 women. The following 5 risk factors were statistically significant for both men and women: the Durnin index of body fat content, the total cholesterol concentration in the plasma, triglyceride level, numbers of daily meals. The mean level of two factors that is the HDL-cholesterol concentration and the HDL-cholesterol/total cholesterol ratio was lower in the Warsaw sample what speaks in favor of concept that the ischemic heart disease threat is greater in that population. Among men the Warsaw population exhibited moreover the significantly higher value of diastolic blood pressure as well as of Quetelet body mass index; age and numbers of cigarettes smoked daily has also been higher in that population. In women from the Tarnobrzeg province ++ the diastolic blood pressure was higher than that in the Warsaw population. The two populations studied showed also highly significant differences so far as the complex of all 11 features is concerned what enabled the qualification of 72.3% of men, and 68.4% of women as belonging to the big city population or to the agricultural-industrial population using the discriminant Fisher function.

The POL-MONICA Project screened in 1984 1309 men and 1337 women aged 35 to 64 years, inhabitants of Warsaw (the Warsaw centre) and 1250 men and 1472 women aged 35 to 64 years, inhabitants of the Tarnobrzeg province (the Cracow centre). In both environments the percentage of smoking men was similar (about 57%). Women from big city environment smoked three times more frequently (33.1%) than in the agricultural areas (10.7%). The smoking intensity was higher in the agricultural areas both among men and women. It has been stated that smoking habit depends on such social or demographic patterns as age, sex, civil state, education, physical activity related to work. Smoking influenced significantly the level of such risk factors as systolic arterial blood pressure, the fat body content in both men and women, and the HDL-cholesterol in women from both environments.

According to the Pol-MONICA program the random selected population samples were studied in inhabitants of Warsaw or the Tarnobrzeg province . After excluding from analysis the subjects treated with the hypotensive++ or hypolipemic drugs the differences between populations studies with regard to range of mean pressure value, except systolic pressure (RRs) in women, appeared significant ones. In populations studied the arterial blood pressure (CTK) was influenced by: age, sex, education, family history with regard to the circulatory system, the alcohol intake, smoking, heart action frequency the Quetelet coefficient value, triglyceride concentration and daily sodium intake. After analysis of inter-population differences in values of above factors the mean RRs values in populations studied did not differed significantly whereas differences in mean values of diastolic pressure (RRr) were highly statistically significant.

Distribution of ribonuclease (RNAase), acid phosphatase (acid Ph-ase) and beta glucuronidase (BGU) between the granule, cytosol-soluble and post-granule fractions in normal human granulocytes and in granulocytes of chronic granulocytic leukemia (CGL) was studied. CGL granulocytes were found to display relative RNAase activity 1.2 times higher, relative acid Ph-ase activity 2.5 times higher than normal granulocytes. The granule fraction of CGL granulocytes showed 1.4 times higher relative RNAase activity but 0.87 times lower acid Ph-ase activity and the same BGU activity as normal granulocytes. On the other hand, the supernatant soluble fraction of CGL granulocytes showed 4.4 times higher relative RNAase activity, 1.2 times higher relative acid Ph-ase activity and BGU 2.2 times higher than in cytosol soluble fraction of normal granulocytes. Thus, cytosol soluble fraction of CGL granulocytes show a relative activity of the lysosomal enzymes studied which is remarkably higher than in normal granulocytes. The percentage distribution of RNAase, acid Ph-ase and BGU showed that CGL granulocytes contain only 36% of total RNAase activity versus 46% of that in normal ones. On the other hand, CGL granulocytes in cytosol soluble fraction will contain 48% of total RNAase versus 29% of total RNAase in cytosol of normal granulocytes. The isoenzyme profiles of RNAase of granule fractions were similar in normal and CGL granulocytes, while the RNAase isoenzyme profiles of cytosol fractions were different for normal and CGL granulocytes, indicating that some essential part of CGL granulocyte cytosol RNAase differs from RNAase contained in granules and in cytosol of normal granulocytes.

Ribonuclease (RNase) activity in the lymphocytes of 20 chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients and 10 normal subjects was studied. It was found that in the lymphocytes of the control subjects the RNase activity could be detected in the pH range 4.5 to 8.6, inclusive. The RNase activity versus pH profile of normal lymphocytes consists of an acid RNase peak at pH 6.5 and alkaline RNase peak at pH 7.8. When treated with pCMB an inhibitor-bound RNase activity was revealed. The peak of this activity lay between pH 6.7 to 7.0. Liberating the inhibitor-bound RNase activity changed the RNase activity-pH profile, yielding one peak curve with a maximum at pH 7.0. RNase activity in CLL lymphocytes was remarkably lower than that in normal lymphocytes. The acid RNase in 80% of the CLL patients was lower by a factor of ten. Likewise, a many fold decrease in alkaline RNase activity (in some cases down to the zero level) was observed in CLL lymphocytes. However, in 70% of CLL patients, a level of the inhibitor-bound RNase activity was similar to that found in normal lymphocytes. In 20% of the studied CLL patients, a remarkable decrease in both free alkaline and inhibitor-bound RNase activity was observed. When poly-C was used as a substrate for determining RNase activity, a decrease to approximately 15% in CLL lymphocytes was observed, when poly-U was used instead of poly-C, a decrease to 65% was found only as compared with normal lymphocytes. This may suggest that CLL lymphocytes are deficient in a poly-C specific RNase which displays its activity within a neutral and alkaline pH range.

Dietary investigations in four central European survey populations carried out in the German Democratic Republic, Poland and Denmark between 1982 and 1984 using different methodologies were analysed in order to assess the possibilities of characterizing the dietary habits of individual survey participants in a comparable fashion. This was done with the view of assessing the feasibility of a pooled cancer cohort study. For this purpose a method has been devised to combine dietary information derived by food frequency questionnaires and quantitative recording methods into a quantitative characterization of individuals' habits. A comparable characterization between different cultural settings could be demonstrated for a selected list of food items. The selection was determined by the food items considered in common in the different food frequency questionnaires and yielding sufficient and comparable variation as well as absolute amounts of intake. This was more clearly found for food items such as 'fruit' which experience a concise role in dietary habits. However, the observed discrepancies of the different dietary methods within the countries, and, most importantly, between the countries, result in distributions of average daily consumption values which are not deemed to be comparable.

Ribonuclease (RNase) activity measured at pH 7.8 (the alkaline RNase) and pH 6.7 (the acid RNase) was estimated in serum of 54 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The estimations were performed on the first day of disease, then on the seven consecutive days and on the 14th day. A significant elevation in both alkaline and acid RNase activities on days 1--7 of AMI was found, compared with healthy control subjects. Elevation in both acid and alkaline RNase activity began on the 1st day of AMI and continued to increase up to peak values on the 3rd day for acid RNase and the 5 the day for alkaline RNase. On the 14th day both alkaline and acid RNase activities came back to the range found in normal sera. Increase in serum acid and alkaline RNase activity in AMI showed a time pattern different from that of GOT and GPT aminotransferases. However, the relationship between the elevation of serum RNase activity and severity of the disease was obvious.