Type A Behavior Pattern: Its Association with Coronary Heart Disease

We have attempted to describe as briefly but as completely as possible those data dealing with the associational and possibly causal relationships of Type A Behavior Pattern with coronary heart disease. The epidemiological data indicate without question that a very strong association does exist between this behavior pattern and the prevalence ad incidence of coronary heart disease. The clinical and laboratory experimental data suggest that a causal relationship also exists between this behavior pattern and the pathogenesis of coronary heart disease if only because the healthy subject exhibiting the fully developed form of Type A Behavior Pattern usually displays the same biochemical derangements (e.g. hypercholesterolemia, hyperlipemia, hyperinsulinemia and excess discharge of norepinephrine) so frequently observed in patients with coronary heart disease. This review also emphasizes our recent finding that most Type A subjects appear to exhibit a low reserve of pituitary growth hormone.