ABSTRACT
The transformation of Communist into post-Communist societies has imposed stresses and created opportunities. Which of these can be seen to have the greater impact can be greatly influenced by when one looks. The immediate impact of the collapse of Communist regimes was often said to bring ‘more shock than therapy’ (Gerber and Hout, 1998). The consequences of shock were most dramatically illustrated by the decline of life expectancy in Russia and other post-Soviet states in the 1990s, as Cockerham (1999) and others have highlighted. However, the subsequent economic growth of post-transformation economies at rates double or treble that of established market economies has offered new opportunities for a healthier and longer life.
