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What ever happened to the Mediterranean diet?
From the Department of Family Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario K7L5E9, Canada
Address correspondence to Richard Birtwhistle, Department of Family Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario K7L5E9, Canada. email: birthwhis@queensu.ca
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Ischemic heart disease is the leading cause of death in both developed and developing countries worldwide. There is marked regional variation across Europe in mortality rates for CHD with higher rates in the north-east and lower rates in the south-west.1 Greece seems to go against this gradient. Some developed countries have had a steady decrease in the age standardized mortality rate for CHD over the last 25–30 years. In Canada and the United States as an example, CHD mortality has fallen about 25% but remains the most common cause of death.2 However, for many developing