Coronary heart disease in seven racial groups in Singapore.

The purpose of this communication is to examine the pattern of coronary heart disease over the years 1948 to 1957 inclusive, as seen in the mortuary of the General Hospital at Singapore in 19,415 consecutive autopsies, and to determine whether there are racial differences. The macroscopic data considered relevant were transferred from the post-mortem protocols on to a specially prepared proforma in all those cases in which the principal cause of death was given as coronary heart disease. The series does not include other cases in which coronary heart disease was an incidental finding. The Island of Singapore and its Population. Singapore, an island of some 217 square miles, lies one degree north of the Equator and 104 degrees east of Greenwich. The climate is equable, the average temperature being 850 F. and the average relative humidity 83 per cent. There are no seasons. On the Island live some one and a half million people of varying races, religions, customs, and dietary habits. When Thomas Stamford Raffles landed on the Island in 1819 the population was in the region of 150, all Bugis Malay. In 1824 when the Island was formally ceded to the East India Company, it had risen to 10,000. Free immigration continued, mainly from China and India, until about 1939. Since then the polyglot populace has rapidly increased until it has reached the figures shown in Table I.