EurekAlert -- Few medical investigations have had the impact of the Framingham Heart Study. This study, started in 1948, was designed as a cohort, observational study of cardiovascular disease, then recognized as a growing health threat but now has emerged as much more. The Framingham Heart study came to revolutionize thinking about cardiovascular disease, change the study of epidemiology, and even force the biostatistics community to develop multivariate analysis. In a special issue of Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases, leaders from around the world offer their views on the global impact of the Framingham Heart Study.
