Sudden Coronary Death [antikvár]

Foreword Two major activities of the Paavo Nurmi Foundation involve the provision of research grants to individual investigators and the organization of international symposia on specific problems of topical interest. In its allocation of research funds creative approaches and problems involving new ideas are given priority. In organizing international symposia, the aim of the Foundation has always been to define a real problem area and then to gather investigators of high international standing to evaluate the matter, - to critically survey the present state of knowledge and to discuss future possibilities for research into the topic concerned. Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in industrialized countries and the mortality among young and middle-aged men, in particular, is high compared with that from other causes. Sudden death - one manifestation of coronary heart disease - is strikingly common, again among young and middle-aged men, creating profound consequences for families involved as well as for society as a whole. Coronary atherosclerosis is the main cause of coronary heart disease. During recent years considerable advances in research into the pathogenesis of coronary atherosclerosis have been made. However, the basic causes remain unknown and we are still awaiting a reduction in premature deaths due to coronary atherosclerosis at the population level. Studies published during the last few years showed that sudden deaths were not necessarily connected with advanced coronary atherosclerosis, and, on the other hand, that advanced coronary atherosclerosis did not always lead to sudden premature death. Sudden death also occurred with minor coronary sclerosis, while subjects with major coronary sclerosis could survive years without noticeable signs of coronary ischemia. Furthermore, people have lived several years of their normal lives after successful