This is the second edition of the highly successful text. It provides authoritative and readable insight into the wide field of coronary heart disease epidemiology. It reviews major risk factors from various perspectives and is an important textbook on the epidemiology and prevention of CHD, one of the main causes of death in the developed and developing world.

SECTION I: INTRODUCTION ; 1. Coronary heart disease epidemiology: from aetiology to public health ; 2. Contribution of epidemiology to understanding coronary heart disease (reprinted from the 1st edition) ; 3. Established major coronary risk factors: historical overview ; 4. Current status: six established major risk factors - and low risk ; SECTION II: GLOBAL PICTURE OF CORONARY HEART DISEASE ; II.I Worldwide trends ; 5. US trends ; 6. Coronary heart disease in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union ; 7. Trends in Asia ; 8. Developing countries ; 9. Coronary heart disease burden among persons of African origin ; II.I Global patterns and the burden of disease ; 11. BLOOD PRESSURE AND THE BURDEN OF CORONARY HEART DISEASE ; 12. LIPIDS AND CHOLESTEROL ; 13. TRENDS IN ALL-CAUSE AND CARDIOVASCULAR MORTALITY: A COMPARISON BETWEEN BELGIUM, THE NETHERLANDS AND DENMARK, ; 1950-1999 ; SECTION III: AETIOLOGY ; III.I Risk factors ; 14. Dietary patterns and coronary heart disease risk ; 15. Antioxidants and cardiovascular disease ; 16. Serum homocysteine and coronary heart disease ; 17. Alcohol and coronary heart disease ; 18. Fish consumption, N-3 fatty acids amd coronary heart disease ; 19. Exercise versus heart attack: History of a hypothesis (reprinted from the 1st edition) ; Addendum to Chapter 19 ; 20. Obesity ; 21. Metabolic syndrome, diabetes and coronary heart disease ; 22. Women and cardiovascular heart disease ; 23. Use of oral contraceptives ; 24. Systematic review of prospective cohort studies of psychosocial factors in the aetiology and prognosis of coronary heart disease ; 25. Mental illness and coronary heart disease ; 26. Psychophysiology ; 27. Chronic infection and circulating markers of inflammation ; 28. Coagulation, thrombosis and coronary heart disease ; 29. Air pollution ; 30. Seasonal variations in all-cause and cardiovascular mortality and the role of temperature ; 31. Gene-environment interaction and coronary artery disease: apolipoprotein E and smoking and the interleukin-6 gene and inflammation as examples ; III.II Life course ; 32. The developmental origins of coronary heart disease ; 33. Life course influences on coronary heart disease ; 34. Emergence of risk factors in children ; 35. Risk factors in the elderly ; SECTION IV: PUBLIC HEALTH ; 36. Strategies of prevention: the individual and the population (reprinted from the 1st edition) ; 37. Contributions to change: major risk factors and the potential for prevention ; 38. Prevention of coronary heart diesase: Findings from the Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals' Follow-Up Study ; 39. Risk scores for management and the prevention of cardiovascular disease ; 40. Non-invasive measures of preclinical coronary heart disease ; 41. Screening for future coronary heart disease ; 42. Screening for type 2 diabetes ; 43. Primary prevention of high blood pressure ; 44. The secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease ; 45. Smoke-free policies are an effective way to reduce heart disease rapidly ; 46. Nutrition Policy: national stratergies for dietary change ; 47. Lessening inequalities and effect on coronary heart disease ; 48. Behaviour Change ; 49. Contributions to change: treatment ; 50. Intervention in high risk groups: hypertension ; 51. Community change and the role of public health

...an invaluable guide to the epidemiology of CHD...[and] an extremely useful companion to students and researchers in CHD epidemiology, and to all of those interested in the latest developments in our understanding of the leading cause of death worldwide.

From reviews of the first edition: `For the eager student as well as for the epidemiologist just trying to keep up, this is probably the most complete and authoritative text now available.' BMJ `The great strength of this book is that it brings together and summarizes a mass of detail... will be of paricular interest to those who want to bring themselves up to date on the wide field... and, in particular, to postgraduate students in epidemiology and public health.' New England Journal of Medicine `The balance between the etiologic and public health components is a major strength of this text... the most comprehensive and readable text available in the field today.' Australian Epidemiology Association News `[It] has contributions from many eminent workers who, in trawling a wealth of literature, have performed a creditable service for those who may have cause to seek guidance through the morass.' International Journal of Epidemiology

Comprehensive review of the subject from clinical, epidemiological, public health perspectives Many new authors and chapters reflecting the considerable change in the field alongside three classic chapters by Epstein, Rose and Morris. Contributions from international authorities in the field Covers disease aetiology, trends and public health policy Contains a new section on The Global Picture of CHD Many new chapters including those on diet, alcohol, metabolic syndrome, mental illness, psychophysiology, chronic infection, air pollution, temperature and gene-environment interactions, and inequalities Expanded themes including psychological, behavioural and social factors

Comprehensive review of the subject from clinical, epidemiological, public health perspectives Many new authors and chapters reflecting the considerable change in the field alongside three classic chapters by Epstein, Rose and Morris. Contributions from international authorities in the field Covers disease aetiology, trends and public health policy Contains a new section on The Global Picture of CHD Many new chapters including those on diet, alcohol, metabolic syndrome, mental illness, psychophysiology, chronic infection, air pollution, temperature and gene-environment interactions, and inequalities Expanded themes including psychological, behavioural and social factors