Medical Risks is the fruit of ten years' research into mortality patterns by age and time elapsed for a wide variety of medical conditions. It contains more detailed information on prognosis in specific impairments than can be found in any medical textbook. Indeed, it constitutes the largest compilation of evaluated data about prognosis according to age, sex, time elapsed, and other factors affecting mortality--notably for: cancer; cardiovascular diseases; hypertension; respiratory diseases; gastrointestinal diseases; genitourinary disorders; endocrine and metabolic disorders; neurological and psychiatric disorders; overweight and underweight problems; and occupational and lifestyle hazards. The findings have been summarized in thirteen overview chapters, supported by nearly 400 abstracts of mortality studies among hospital patients, patients of individual or group physicians, persons included in special surveys, insured lives, and other selected populations. The abstracts focus on the relative mortality experiences as compared with healthy lives or the general population. The abstracts based on the experience among insured lives also indicate the reductions in life expectancy for various impairments. The diversity of the results in different investigations calls attention to the wide range of variability in medical risks under different circumstances. The scientific importance of the volume lies primarily in the evaluation and analyses of the mortality experience, which is presented in a uniform life table format that facilitates comparisons. No single work covers similar ground as extensively and in as much technical detail. A scientist or physician who needs data on medical risks would have to consult hundreds of books, articles, and research reports to obtain comparable information.
