Abstract
To the Editor.— In the review article in MEDICAL NEWS, Two Studies Trace Role of Stress in Heart Disease (232:696, 1975), the argument advanced is based in part on two fallacies that I believe should not be perpetuated. Myocardial infarction as a disease was indeed virtually unknown before the 1920s, but it does not follow that it was virtually nonexistent. It had only been described about 1909 and was not well taught for many years thereafter. My grandfather and my father-in-law signed out such deaths as acute indigestion, and this was accepted uncritically by the authorities of that period. There is no way to know the actual incidence of myocardial infarction in the over-40 population at the turn of the century, but the assumption that it was low is unwarranted and probably erroneous. The self-pitying complaint that life's stresses are much greater in modern times in the United States should
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
