Mortality From Myocardial Infarction in Roseto

To the Editor:— Dr. Keys' article (p 93) challenges claims that were not made and he quotes inaccurately by shortening a sentence, and the report did not rely solely on the data of death.

Abstract

To Editor:— Dr. Keys' article (p 93) challenges claims that were not made and he quotes inaccurately by shortening a sentence. The two communications from Oklahoma group on which Dr. Keys bases his critical comments are concerned with discovery of an intriguing and potentially important phenomenon, namely, existence of a town in United States where death rate from myocardial infarction is less than half that of surrounding communities. Dr. Keys has elected to challenge significance of data on arteriosclerotic heart disease as a whole. Although differences do closely approach conventional significance limits by Dr. Keys's own calculation ( P =0.07), no claim was made about arteriosclerotic heart disease—only about death rates from myocardial infarction. Dr. Keys's misleading criticism refers to the mere rarity of notations about infarction on death records. Our report did not rely solely on data of death