The Electrocardiogram of the South African Bantu

Considerable attention has been directed to the "suggested" low incidence of atheroselerosis in the Bantu and its relation to diet and blood lipids. Electrocardiographic abnormalities found in the Bantu have been regarded as unreliable evidence either of the presence or the nature of heart disease in these subjects and hence not inconsistent with the alleged freedom of heart disease in these people. In the present study the authors challenge the validity of such an interpretation of electrocardiographic changes.