[Epidemiology and clinical aspects of atherosclerosis (author's transl)].

Prospective epidemiologic studies have uniformly demonstrated that a high plasma cholesterol level is indicative of an increased risk of myocardial infarction. Beside elevated serum cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, hypertension, obesity, and stress have been correlated with an elevated incidence of atherosclerosis. At the Medical Department in Heidelberg it was demonstrated that four weeks after myocardial infarction (MI) only 59 percent of 753 men and 53 percent of 348 women were still alive, and that smoking cigarettes leads to early MI. Nonsmokers had their first MI at 63 years, cigarette smokers at the age of 53. These results stress the importance of early detection of the above-mentioned risk factors.