[Venous ecology]

The purpose of venous ecology is to study the effect of the environment on the peripheral vessels. It is very extensive but still little explored subject in need of multidisciplinary study. The author reviews some of the major problems of ecophlebology: --pollution and harmful effects of urban life (atmospheric pollution, stress and influence of noise on the vessels); --the influence of habitat (furniture, ergonomics, urbanism, sociological studies and under-floor heating); --the cites new research on terrestrial electro-magnettism, meteoropathology, biological clocks and the influence of the mass media. In conclusion he hopes that ecophlebology will be the object of research which will permit a better understanding, and hence better control, of the pathological mechanisms resulting from the environment.