Cardiovascular disease Seven Countries Study

It is a fallacy to believe that individuals with risk factors for cardiovascular events like smoking, hypertension, or hyperlipidemia can neutralize or minimize their adverse effects by exercise. In the Seven Countries Study (23,24), Finland had the highest overall prevalence of coronary heart disease. The Finnish population consumes large amounts of animal fat. Fiimish lumberjacks are an example of physically active people in whom the risk for coronary heart disease remains high (25). The approach to prevent coronary heart disease should be multifaceted... 

The International Cooperative Study on the Epidemiology of Cardiovascular Disease has yielded key data on the role of diet (13). This prospective international study of 18 population samples in seven countries - Finland, Greece, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, United States, and Yugoslavia - deals with observations on approximately 12,000 men, originally age 40 to 59, who have been studied for about a decade. Marked differences in the prevalence and incidence of coronary heart disease were recorded among the population samples from seven countries. 

Fig. 3. International Cooperative Study on Epidemiology of Cardiovascular Disease men originally age 40-59 in seven countries relationship between percentage of total calories provided by saturated fatty acids in the diet of the cohorts and age-standardized 5-year incidence rate for fatal coronary heart disease plus non-fatal myocardial infarction. The cohorts are ...

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