Happy Heart Month.
Paul D. White, MD, is considered to be the founder of preventive cardiology. He was a staunch advocate of exercise, diet, and weight control in the prevention of heart disease. He helped create the American Heart Association in 1924 and became the organization's president in 1941. He later served as President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s personal physician following his heart attack in 1955.
Dr. White presented his own “throwback” paper at the graduation exercises of Harvard Medical School on June 1, 1956. A Harvard grad himself, the paper was a historical medical literature survey titled “The Evolution of Our Knowledge about the Heart and its Diseases since 1629.”
At the conclusion of the paper, looking toward the future with prescience, he notes:
“Two of the greatest problems remaining for us to take up with vigor are rehabilitation of cardiovascular patients and epidemiologic cardiovascular research, that is, the relationship of the various ways of life to disease of the heart and blood vessels. This last is the basis for our ultimate aim in preventive medicine. Until we learn all the answers, however, may I suggest that more attention be paid to the simple rules of health such as were advanced and often applied by our medical ancestors of centuries ago. These, if adequately carried out, especially by candidates for certain diseases such as hypertension and coronary atherosclerosis, might, for all we know, prevent or delay the onset of these diseases. At least we must try to find out if our diet is too rich and if our life is too soft.”
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Nicole Buckley
Communications Strategist
Association of American Medical Colleges
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