Coronary Heart Disease, Stroke, and Aortic Aneurysm

Data were obtained from a prospective epidemiological study of over 1,000,000 men and women who were traced for approximately six years after they answered detailed questionnaires. The analysis was confined to the records of 804,409 of the subjects who at the time of enrollment met the qualifications: age 40 to 79; no history of heart disease or stroke; no history of cancer diagnosed within the preceding five years; and not sick. During the course of the study, 14,819 of the subjects died of coronary heart disease, 4,099 died of stroke (cerebrovascular lesions), and 519 died of nonsyphilitic aortic aneurysm. Death rates from these three diseases were analyzed in relation to sex, age, diabetes, high blood pressure, body weight, change in weight, exercise, cigarette smoking, sleep, and nervous tension.