Three generations of Seven Countries investigators gathered in Fukuoka, Japan, on October 30, 1993, to report on the past, present, and future of this vital ongoing study on cardiovascular disease epidemiology. The occasion was the 35th anniversary of the study, which contrasts lifestyles, diet, and cardiovascular disease rates in Japan, Greece, Yugoslavia, Italy, the Netherlands, Finland, and the United States. This volume collects the formal presentations at the 35th anniversary symposium. The Seven Countries Study was the first to carry out both cross-sectional and longitudinal research in populations contrasting in cardiovascular disease rate, lifestyle, and diet. This work presents a brief overview and history of the study followed by the investigators' summaries of their findings on recent dramatic increases and decreases in risk factors and disease rates. The investigators' presentations are capped by overviews from Dr. Frederick Epstein, University of Zurich, and Dr. Jeremiah Stamler, Northwestern University.
This book will appeal to anyone interested in the origins, results, present activities, and public health implications of this active, pioneering study in cardiovascular disease epidemiology.

The Seven Countries Study has made central contributions to the under standing of the socio-cultural influences on population rates of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). It has pointed the way to preventive strategies for whole populations. The Study is unique as a long-term investigation, now in its 35th year. This pioneering work arose in part from a meeting between Professors Ancel Keys and Noboru Kimura to discuss differences observed in clinical mani festations and pathology of coronary disease in the U.S. and Japan. Professor Keys started explorations of the importance in these differences of dietary fat and serum cholesterol when he visited Japan in 1954, and thereafter initiated the Seven Countries Study to test these hypotheses. In the Japanese cohorts of the Study, it became evident from the outset that coronary artery disease was extremely rare, but its incidence has since increased along with dramatic lifestyle changes from traditional Japanese to western styles. The Japanese experience contrasts with a reduction in coronary artery disease in many western countries along with establishment of major preventive efforts in risk factor reduction and cardiac care."