Heart Disease at Mid-Century

TL;DRAbstract

IN TIHIS YEAR, still in the middle of the twentieth century, our hearts control much of our destiny.Diseases of the heart and arteries are responsible for a very large percentage of the illnesses and deaths in this country, even amnonog childreni and young and middle-aged adults.Despite the slowness with which we are mov- ing in our efforts to meet this challenge, really great progress has been accomplished in several directions:Cardiovascular syphilis has been almost wiped out as a result of the remarkably success- ful campaion for the prevention and early recognition and treatment of syphilis itself and the introduction of the antibiotics, especially penicillin.Once cardiovascular syplhilis made up nearly 25 percent of all cases of heart dis- ease; now it is well under 1 percent.Rheumatic heart disease, at one time the most common type of all, is on the wane.In New England 30 years ago, it led all the other kinds of heart disease in prevalence.Now it is a poor third.This reduction is

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