Coloured computer-enhanced gamma scan of an inferior sagittal section of human heart following myocardial infarction. In the present issue of Diabetologia (51:1980–1988) Marmot et al. report that the inverse social gradient in fatal coronary heart disease and non-fatal myocardial infarction is poorly explained by smoking habit, blood pressure and serum total cholesterol. A better explanation is provided by social differences in components of the metabolic syndrome, dietary pattern, physical activity and smoking, together with height as a marker of early life influences.
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