Coronary heart disease and human behavior

Abstract

Coronary heart disease due to atherosclerosis is prevalent in people whose circulating cholesterol level is high, who smoke, who have elevated blood pressure, and, perhaps, whose fitness is low and/or body weight excessive. Whereas the epidemiologic evidence is relatively strong for each of these health factors (behavioral patterns and their physiological consequences), the evidence from clinical trial interventions is still ambiguous. Each of the health factors relates to personal and societal lifestyle. Each is influenced by individual choice and by the practices of health professionals. The relatively low risks of intervention, viewed in the light of its potentially high benefits, justify the attempt to engender a more healthful lifestyle on a public health scale. The present paper provides guidelines for health professionals and lists corollary recommendations for concerned individuals for each of the five relevant health factors. Application of these prescriptions by health professionals in concert with the individual holds promise for reduced coronary artery disease at the societal level.