The Aetiology of Coronary Heart Disease in Old Men

Acheson, R. M.

doi:10.1136/jech.15.2.49

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 50 publications

(9 reference statements)

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“…In view of the firm indictment of heavy cigarette smoking as a major risk factor of coronary heart disease, by prospective epidemiologic studies (9), the results of our retrospective study are surprising. However, Acheson (5) also noted no significant difference in use of tobacco between 88 elderly men with coronary heart disease and 133 elderly men without coronary heart disease. The data of Brown et al (6) likewise showed no appreciable difference between smokers and nonsmokers in the prevalence of coronary heart disease among males in the seventh decade of life.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dawber and Kannel (13) believe that a high concentration of serum cholesterol as a risk factor in the development of coronary heart disease has been well established on the basis of long‐term, prospective epidemiologic studies. Acheson (5) noted no significant difference in the serum cholesterol level between 88 elderly men with coronary heart disease and 133 healthy old men. However, in his study, 8 of the 88 men in the coronary group showed electrocardiographic evidence of myocardial infarction, and in them the serum cholesterol level was higher than in the healthy controls.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Epstein (4) recently made a comprehensive review of the epidemiology of coronary heart disease, but relatively few references are made to studies in the elderly. Acheson (5) studied pensioners of a Dublin brewery whose ages ranged from 65 to 85 years. He concluded that coronary heart disease in old men is due chiefly to atherosclerosis rather than to thrombosis of the major vessels, and that its etiology differs from that of the episodes of acute thrombosis which are becoming more common in middle‐aged men.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If the results noted in this study are valid for the general elderly population, a number of important questions are raised. Is the etiology of coronary heart disease in the elderly different, as Acheson (5) suggests, from that of coronary heart disease in youth and middle age? Does the same pathologic process which accounts for coronary thrombosis in the elderly account for disease in the peripheral blood vessels?…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Some Factors Associated With Absence of Coronary Heart Disease in Persons Aged 65 or Older*

Brown

Ritzmann

1967

J American Geriatrics Society

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Despite continuing research on the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and the etiology of coronary heart disease, this entity remains a major cause of death and disability among the elderly in the United States. The bulk of epidemiologic research in this field has been concerned with mortality statistics, prevalence and incidence data, and risk factors in young and middle-aged adults.Little information is available concerning possible factors enabling a person to live t o the seventh or eighth decade of life without suffering from coronary heart disease. This study was conducted over a nine-month period during 1965-1966 at the Veterans Administration Hospital, Portland, Oregon, in a n attempt t o determine some factors and living habits t h a t might be associated with the absence of coronary heart disease in patients 65 years of age and older. MATERIAL AND METHODSThe U. S. Veterans Administration Hospital at Portland, Oregon is a 555-bed hospital consisting of a general medicine and surgical service, and is a major teaching unit of the University of Oregon Medical School. It has an average daily census of 522 predominantly male patients, of whom more than 50 per cent are 65 years of age or older. I t thus provides an ideal setting for clinical studies related to coronary heart disease in an elderly population. Study patients-No heart diseasePatients were selected for study by initially screening those 65 years of age and older who had normal electrocardiograms. Approximately 8,000 electrocardiograms are taken yearly in this hospital and they are interpreted daily by the department head and the staff of the Cardiology Department. During the period June 30, 1965 to March 31, 1966, a total of 6,055 electrocardiograms were taken. Of these, 2,921 (48 per cent) were in patients 65 years of age and older, and 289 of them were interpreted as normal. The patients with normal electrocardiograms were then interviewed and examined to determine that they did not have coronary heart disease or other forms of heart disease. The diagnostic criteria used were those established by the New York Heart Association (1) for the diagnosis of cardiovascular disease.After full investigation, 133 patients (4 per cent of the sample of 2,921 patients 65 years of age and older) were found to be free from any type of heart disease. These 133 elderly persons (130 males and 3 females) with "normal hearts" became the study subjects. Their ages ranged from 65 to 85 years, with an average of 70 years.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Some Factors Associated With Absence of Coronary Heart Disease in Persons Aged 65 or Older*

Brown

Ritzmann

1967

J American Geriatrics Society

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“…. drugs"; (2) "the mean rise in BUN in those with a rise in BUN level was 28.3 mg/100 ml (range, 6 to 77/100 ml)"; (3) the rise was "frequently associated with overt symptoms such as nausea and vomiting"; and (4) "in all cases (the rise in BUN level) prompted discontinuation of the suspected drug or drugs." We feel this is a reasonably adequate description of the cases we reported, and we believe that most clinicians would consider the results in the cases, as a group, to be clini¬ cally significant.…”

Section: Tetracycline and Blood Urea Nitrogenmentioning

confidence: 99%