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Mary Walker, PH Whincup, AG Shaper, The British Regional Heart Study 1975–2004, International Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 33, Issue 6, December 2004, Pages 1185–1192, https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyh295
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How did the study come about?
During the early 1970s, mortality rates from coronary heart disease (CHD) were exceptionally high in the UK. A twofold regional variation existed with particularly high rates in South Wales, Northern England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. There was considerable interest in the possibility that 'soft' drinking water was a risk factor for CHD and that variations in water hardness/softness across Britain might account for these geographical variations.
Professor Gerry Shaper and colleagues submitted a 5-year proposal to the Medical Research Council: to examine the factors responsible for the considerable regional variation in coronary heart disease, hypertension, and stroke in Great Britain, and to determine the causes of these conditions in order to provide a rational basis for recommendations towards their prevention.
This proposal embraced the water hardness hypothesis but extended the potential of the data collected to produce a more substantial and wider ranging enquiry into the causes of CHD both at the individual and the regional level: The British Regional Heart Study (BRHS).
