[Prevalence of anemia in Japan].

The frequency of anemia in Japan is statistically higher than that of foreign countries. Especially, Japanese females frequently fall ill with iron deficiency anemia(IDA) because of decreased intake of iron. Secondary anemia is of the second-highest frequency. While primary hematological disorders account for only a small fraction of whole anemic patients, aplastic anemia is relatively frequent in the world-wide statistics. The frequency of myelodysplastic syndromes is now increasing with aging of the population. It is important to sustain our effort in assembling the data as to the prevalence of anemia.