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Invited remarks
Author(s) -
Stamler Jeremiah
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
clinical pharmacology and therapeutics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.941
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1532-6535
pISSN - 0009-9236
DOI - 10.1002/cpt1979255part2651
Subject(s) - intervention (counseling) , life style , clinical trial , drug trial , disease , medicine , alternative medicine , psychology , gerontology , psychiatry , psychotherapist , pathology
I would like first to make a few general comments stimulated by the presentations this morning, which certainly were outstanding. My first is that we should be careful here not to limit trials to the drug area. In fact, in life this is not the case. Mention was just made of the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial by the Chairman in introducing me. Although it includes for hypertensive participants the use of antihypertensive medication, it contains a sizable group of participants who are not hypertensive and for whom life style intervention is an extremely important key—and sole—form of intervention. This group was not included just to broaden the purview. If it is correct that life styles are critically important as determinants of health, and by now that is generally recognized to be correct (e.g., smoking habits, eating habits, imbibing habits), then trials on the ability to control and prevent disease by life style change are extremely important. And they have their special problems—one of which I will return to in a moment. They need our attention in terms of the conduct of trials, including the stopping of trials.