Ethnological and clinical considerations on the relationship between body weight and arteriosclerosis

Abstract

An alarming increase in the so-called degenerative cardiovascular disorders is reported from all highly developed countries. The undoubted absolute increase in the number of sufferers from vascular disease is partly attributable to the general rise in the expectation of life, but the younger and middle age groups are affected as well as the elderly. In countries with a high standard of living, cardiovascular disease ranks with cancer and traffic accidents as one of the principal causes of death. It is therefore not surprising that study of arteriosclerosis has been intensified in every field of medical research, one of the most important of which is the relationship between body weight and degenerative vascular disease. While insurance medical officers and statisticians regard it as an established fact that body weight is an important contributory factor in the development of cardiovascular disorders, physiologists and clinicians are divided in their opinions. As long ago as 1901 Rogers established that the mortality of insured persons who were overweight was in general high. Further statistical studies (summarised by Marks, 1956) led to the following conclusion: “Overweight shortens life, is an etiological factor in several principal diseases, and hastens their downward course. Particularly important is the relationship between the accumulation of excess weight and the development of cardiovascular disease” (Armstrong et al., 1951).

Lecture delivered at the Symposium “The pros and cons of sport”, 7–8 June, 1961, at Berne. Publisher in Schweiz. Z. Sportmed. Vol. 9, No 3, P. 74–89 (1961).