Taken from the desk of a patient who suffered a fatal heart attack while rushing to catch the 5:43 pm train*

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥   @HeartSisters

Back in 1959, cardiologists Drs. Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman submitted a research paper to the Journal of the American Medical Association. Their study was accepted and published; it suggested a correlation between coronary artery disease and those living with “overt behavior pattern A” – a link the co-authors claimed was as significant as smoking, cholesterol and high blood pressure.(1)  Their subsequent best selling book Type A Behavior And Your Heart in 1974 prompted further studies by other researchers, and soon “Type A personality” became a popular term in our everyday conversations. The name described people who exhibit personality traits like hostility, impatience, competitiveness, drive, perfectionism and an unhealthy dependence on external rewards.

But it turns out it was a sharp-eyed secretary in their medical practice who first brought this potential link to their attention. Continue reading “How two cardiologists discovered Type A” →