"Because the suspicion of heart disease, particularly coronary artery disease, may have a far reaching effect upon the individual, it is important to identify beyond any reasonable doubt the clinical significance of these variants that appear in the electrocardiograms of apparently healthy people."

To follow that prophetic lead, we are analyzing the time related health status of individuals who develop electrocardiographic disturbances at various ages. Many of these changes have been called non-specific, because it is difficult to relate it to any clinical disease. Only long-term data can answer the question whether such disturbances are important or not. This is a complicated analysis in that it involves some 70,000 electrocardiograms each of which may have 96 variables of interest. A Fellow in Cardiology, who has specialized training in Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, is interested in this aspect of the Study. Over the next year or two she will address many of these electrocardiographic items.

At the present time, three Fellows in Cardiology are working on various aspects of the Study. We recognize the stimulus that is derived from working with young people, and on the other hand they are fortunate to have exposure to "ready made long term data" that is unique in the world.

Dr. Bob Tate has become an Associate Professor in Community Health Sciences, and the Study will provide the opportunity for students of epidemiology and biostatistics to deal with real data rather than hypothetical data derived from a textbook, in formulating Study designs and analyses.