ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates that a multinational pandemic of coronary heart disease occurred during the last two-thirds of the twentieth century in many advanced countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the countries of western Europe. The new pandemic coronary heart disease was similar to many other major pandemics. The decline of the coronary heart disease pandemic greatly reduced ischemic heart disease mortality rates in every country and population group that was studied. The decline of the pandemic made the ischemic heart disease mortality rates of men and women more similar both within and among countries, as seen in the United States, Canada, and England and Wales. Ischemic heart disease mortality rates in Central and South America from 1970 to 2000 were the subject of a study of 10 countries with populations of more than two million persons each and adequate population vital statistics.
