Coronary and aortic atherosclerosis in relation to occupational physical activity in male violent deaths

The extent of coronary and aortic atherosclerosis was estimated by point-counting in 172 men aged 25 years or over dying violent deaths. They were classified into three grades of physical activity based on their occupations. The extent of coronary fatty streaks, raised lesions and calcifications tended to be smallest in "active" men while there was no difference between "sedentary" and "moderately active" mean in this respect. When the latter two groups were combined, a significant difference was found between this combined group and the group of active men in the extent of coronary raised lesions and calcification. On the other hand, no consistent or significant differences between sedentary, moderately active and active men were obtained in the stenosis score, which expressed the degree of obstruction in the coronary arterial tree, or in the extent of atherosclerotic lesions in the aorta.