International Journal of Epidemiology 2002;31:1103-1107
© International Epidemiological Association 2002
Reprints and Reflections |
Coronary disease and modern stress*
Senior Medical Registrar, Bristol Royal Infirmary, Tutor in Medicine in the University of Bristol.
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
There has been a vast increase in coronary disease during the present century. The malady strikes predominantly men in middle life. It is common to all modern States, yet in some thickly populated parts of the world it is unknown. The immunity enjoyed by members of primitive races disappears if they subject themselves, in exile, to the rigours of civilised life. Two main influences are brought to them by civilisation—unfamiliar mental stress, and increased richness of diet. The first of these is considered here.
The mind and disease
We are continually assured that the 20th century belongs to the Common Man. In medicine it is the Whole Man who has become the fashion. This is the age of the psychosomatic approach. An early question to be decided on first encountering a patient is: What sort of person is this? In the language of the initiate, assiduous efforts are now made to relate organic illness
Heredity
Education, occupation, and class
Origins of stress
Conclusion