Alcoholism and Socioeconomic Status, Hepatic Damage, and Arteriosclerosis

Abstract

THIS IS a preliminary report of a study designed (1) to relate socioeconomic status to the amount of atherosclerosis found in the aorta and the coronary arteries, (2) to assess the possible relationship between habit of ingestion of alcohol and pathologic anatomic change in the liver, (3) to determine the degree of association between alcoholism and socioeconomic status, and, (4) to determine quantitatively the extent of atherosclerosis in alcoholics. Methods and Materials Our study included autopsy material from bodies examined at the Legal Medical Institute within 24 hours after violent death. Persons dying of disease were excluded from the study. Each body was weighed and the anthropologic measurements recommended by the International Project of Atherosclerosis ¹ were taken to establish the approximate weight-height ratio of the deceased before death. Persons were classified according to actual and ideal weight-height ratios, as normal (0.90 to 1.09), below normal (under 0.90), and above