This book is the published proceedings of an international symposium sponsored by the Chicago Heart Association and the American Heart Association in Chicago, Feb 3 to 7, 1964. Epidemiological studies have provided convincing evidence indicating the importance of environmental factors in the genesis of human atherosclerosis. Some reports have suggested the same might be true of essential hypertension. This symposium brought together many authorities who discussed the relative importance of genetic and environmental factors in essential hypertension as determined by world-wide studies of different ethnic groups and environmental situations. Convincing evidence confirmed the deleterious effect of elevated blood pressure on mortality and the beneficial effect of lowering blood pressure.
The general impression of the proceedings was that it is not possible to define the role of environmental factors in the genesis of hypertension with clarity. However, there is substantial evidence that such factors significantly influence hypertension in those genetically susceptible.