Life-style and health: some remarks on different viewpoints

Within the framework of the medical model of health and disease the factor 'life-style' plays a central role in the genesis of important disorders such as myocardial infarction or lung cancer. Two central issues, however, have been left unconsidered by most of the research done by medical epidemiologists: Disease, as a rule, has not one single but several causes; it is multifactorial in its etiology. This means that alongside 'life-style' there are other factors influencing pathogenesis. In this way we can explain, for example, the empirical finding that the classical risk factors only explain a minor amount of the morbidity and mortality due to coronary disease. A number of social and psychological factors influence those types of human behavior, which are known to have an adverse effect on health. The influence of age, sex, social status and parental and peer-group models have been empirically demonstrated. Social epidemiological research could contribute to a clarification and supplementation of the above-mentioned relationships leading to an improvement in our knowledge upon which to found preventive intervention. Social epidemiologists view health-adverse behavior as the consequence of social stress, that the individual attempts to cope with via smoking, drinking, etc. In the individual's social environment there exist numerous models, as well as informal pressures leading to such behavior. We should know more about the acute and chronic strains in the transition to adolescence and in later stages of the life-cycle.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)