End Notes

Abstract

Coronary heart disease (CHD) was the outstanding disease of the twentieth century. The name was not used before the century (except in some post-mortem reports). But by mid-century CHD had become the major cause of death in many developed countries and rates were climbing. Then this started to change quite suddenly. In North America and NW Europe CHD mortality peaked from around 1968 and has come down steadily since then. By 2000, rates were only around 30% of their peak. In the same period mortality increased in countries of Eastern Europe. This CHD epidemic has differed greatly in its magnitude and timing between countries with reliable health statistics [880].