Ischemic heart disease and regional variations of socio-cultural characteristics in Belgium.

Ischemic heart disease (IHD) can be considered as a 'cultural disease'. It is surprising to see how IHD is differentially distributed in Belgium on both sides of the linguistic frontier, with higher prevalence, incidence and mortality rates in the South as compared to the North. Therefore, various socio-cultural characteristics have been under investigation in two samples of middle-aged men, in order to determine the most discriminative ones, according to the subjects' cultural belonging. The largest differences are found in the professional activities area, suggesting that stress related to profession might be responsible for the geographical distribution of the disease.