HEART DISEASE: ITS MEDICAL ASPECTS*

IT is not surprising that the medical profession and the entire country are intensely concerned with the problem of heart disease. From a public health point of view it outranks all others in importance. As far as the medical profession is concerned, heart disease is no longer confined to the field of internal medicine. The surgeon has now taken on a major respon-sibility in the treatment of an increasing number of types of heart disease. Specialists in many other fields often find that the heart plays an important role in the diseases under their care. The dermatologist may be treating a case of lupus erythematosus or scleroderma, but knows that the heart may become involved in these conditions. The orthopedic surgeon may be struggling with a stubborn case of kyphoscoliosis and knows, or should know, that chronic cor pulmonale or cardiorespiratory failure is a common terminal eventuality. He also should realize that it is vital to prevent this final complication by early correction of the thoracic deformity, because treatment after it develops is unsatisfactory. The industrial physician i