By Margaret Lowenfeld

One of the most serious issues presented to practical medicine today is the problem of cardiac disease in the young. By the estimate of Dr. Carey Coombs the onset of two-thirds of our adult cardiac morbidity occurs during the period of life from 5 to 15 years of age. Dr Askins states that we are losing 18,962 lives per annum from this cause alone, and there must not be forgotten in this connexion “long periods of illness, the misery of repeated breakdowns, and the immense industrial loss, involved during the years which elapse between the time when the patient develops the disease and when he is ultimately killed by it,” if we are to gain an idea of the magnitude of the problem involved.