A Harvard University doctor is conducting a unique test that may determine, among other things, whether migration from North America to Israel is associated with a decrease in the risk of developing heart disease.
During 1966 and 1967, Dr. Ascher J. Segall, associate professor of epidemiology on the faculty of Public Health at Harvard, and members of his staff, supervised medical examinations of 2,500 persons now living in Israel. Dr. Segall has just sent letters to the brothers and sisters of those persons who live in the United States or Canada, asking them to submit to similar physical examinations. He said his test seeks to investigate the cause of heart disease by studying the differences in the incidence of the disease between persons who have migrated from the United States and Canada and their brothers and sisters still residing in North America. Similar studies have been made in Ireland, England, Norway and Italy. Dr. Segall said his study stemmed from the observation that coronary heart disease appears to be less frequent in Israel than in North America. The study is supported by the U.S. Public Health Service and the Israel Ministry of Health.
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