Coronary Heart Disease: One or Several Diseases?

ProCOR-Discussion Forum: "
5 June 2007

[This article proposes an alternative causation for the emergence and decline of the coronary heart disease 'epidemic' experienced by many developed countries. A consistent explanation by the authors addressing the emergence of CHD in developing countries would be that many populations of developing countries have had high prevalence of infectious diseases and malnutrition which has created a vulnerability to CHD when these people later in their lives are exposed to tobacco smoking and other risky behaviors.]

Title: Coronary Heart Disease (CHD)--One or Several Diseases?

Author: MI Azambuja, R Levins

Reference: Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 2007; 50(2): 228,
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/perspectives_in_biology_and_medicine/toc/pbm50.2.html

Reviewer: Carlos Mendoza Montano, PhD, APRECOR, Guatemala, ProCOR contributing editor, e-mail: projhouse@intelnet.net.gt

Purpose of study: The current article presents an interesting perspective about the causation of CHD. It revisits evidence that may have been overlooked or misinterpreted during the heights of the CHD epidemic in the United States and other developed countries due to the prevalent framework of multicausality, and the hegemony of the lipid over alternative hypotheses to CHD causation. The authors of the article propose a fresh look at some old evidence which leads to new ways of thinking about CHD, its trends and its causes, and new ways of thinking about chronic disease occurrence in general."/.../