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The German Cardiovascular Prevention Study is a multicentre community-based intervention study with the primary goal of reducing cardiovascular mortality by primary prevention measures. The intervention strategy comprises improving people's life styles as well as health promotion so as to modify cardiovascular risk factors (hypercholesterolemia, cigarette smoking, arterial hypertension, physical inactivity and over-weight). Design elements of the German Cardiovascular Prevention Study, now in its fifth year, were adopted from well known community intervention studies, including monitoring of mortality and morbidity, health examination surveys to assess distribution of cardiovascular risk factors, health attitudes and health behaviour in the community and use of formative and process evaluation to monitor the effects of intervention policies in the community. To identify risk factor profiles a cluster analysis was carried out from survey data. Four clusters were identified: a) people with none or few risk factors; b) those with high prevalence of smoking; c) those with high prevalence of hypercholesterolemia and hypertension; d) high risk factor exposure individuals. The clusters are different along social indicators like age, sex and social status. Process evaluation data show that special strategies like interventive blood pressure screenings reached a relatively high proportion of people from lower socioeconomic status. But they also indicate that there is a long way to go from publicity of intervention programs to lasting changes in behaviour.

Analyses of data from the first National Health Examination Survey undertaken from 1984-1986 within the framework of the German Cardiovascular Prevention Study, show the following risk factor prevalences in 25-69 year-old men and women: overweight (BMI males: greater than 25, females greater than 24) or obese (BMI greater than 30): men 65.0%, women 57.6%; total serum cholesterol (less than 5.17 mmol/dl): men 73.7%, women 74.0%; normal blood pressure (according to JNC definitions): men 45.0%, women 59.1%; hypertension according to WHO criteria: men 26.0%, women 21.1%; controlled hypertensives (WHO criteria): men 19.9%, women 33.9%; current smoking: men 40.8%, women 26.1%. For most of the cardiovascular risk factors there is a clear negative association between prevalence and length of school education. Three myocardial infarction (MI) registries (WHO MONICA Project) are operating in the Federal Republic of Germany. Incidence and case-fatality data are within comparable ranges. Coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality has been relatively stable in both sexes from 1970 to 1986 with a minor peak in 1976 and a slight downward trend since then. A study of the reliability of coding procedures in West German state statistical offices revealed major disagreements so that trends derived from national mortality data as aggregate data of the federal states might be spurious. An ecological correlation of regional smoking prevalences (1978) and regional CHD mortality rates (1977-9) showed significant coefficients in men, but not in women.

Up to now there are no systematics of respiratory therapy, although those procedures of "conservative" respiratory therapy are well known since the last century. As ventilation will take over a part or the whole work of breathing of a patient this kind of respiratory therapy must be separated from the conservative therapy procedure, which is the focal point of respiratory therapy. This has been demonstrated by an analysis of respiratory therapy made on two different ICU's. From this analysis a system has been developed encompassing the whole range of respiratory therapy.

Women live longer than men - are they healthier than men or do they live better than men? Morbidity data indicate that men and women differ regarding the types of illnesses they undergo. The life-expectancy for females is not the only indicator for a better or healthier life. Women feel more affected by health problems than man (indicators a.o.: complaints, handicaps to daily activities, use of medication). Objective morbidity data are insufficient but indicate significant disease occurrence in women (indicators a.o.: contacts with the physicians, self-reported history of diseases). Based on epidemiological studies the hypotheses of biological protective factors have not been proved or refuted. Women have a lower CVD-risk factor profile than men. Cluster analyses of the first Bremen health survey separated women into four groups related to health behaviour and risk status. The group with the highest risk factor prevalence had also the most social and family stress. For further research about women we have to work on epidemiological data as well as on qualitative and theoretical research on women and health.