Abstract
In the earlier days of medicine, physicians became adept at diagnosis after recognizing that different characteristics of build tended to be associated with certain diseases: the thin and cadaverous with phthisis; the plethoric with apoplexy; and the bulky and pallid with dropsy. The tendency for the same build and the same diseases to run in families was also recognized. It is not surprising, therefore, that in these early days insurance companies attached considerable importance to the appearance and build of an applicant, but with advances in medical science it became unnecessary to rely on physical appearance alone for the estimation of the risk involved. Nevertheless the information conveyed by build is still important today: excessive body weight is often the sole physical manifestation of a faulty constitution which otherwise may only be suspected, either because of an unfavorable family history or the pattern of previous sickness.
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© 2000 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
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Brackenridge, R.D.C., Baird, I.M. (2000). Build. In: Brackenridge, R.D.C., Elder, W.J. (eds) Medical Selection of Life Risks. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-14499-0_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-14499-0_18
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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