AND PERSONALITY 



Disease as Influenced by Climatic Environment," by C. A. 

 Mills: 1 



"Diabetes mortality is related to climatic stimulation, 

 the disease becoming a major medical problem only in 

 those regions having invigorating climates. 



" In North America its relative importance as a cause of 

 death is greatest in the region of Iowa with the disease in 

 the storm zone of our Northern States being much more 

 prevalent and troublesome than in the South. 



"Diabetes patients from the North almost invariably 

 find their disease less troublesome and easier of control 

 when they migrate to tropical or subtropical climates. 



"Negroes show most strikingly this increasing severity 

 of the disease toward the North, their death rate from it 

 rising even more markedly than does that for the white 

 population. 



" In Europe too and in Australia this relation of diabetes 

 mortality to climatic drive is just as definite as in North 

 America. 



"Errors in diagnosis cannot be responsible for these 

 observed differences, for highest rates are not always 

 found where medical practice is supposed to be best. With 

 diabetes, it cannot be the level of sugar consumption. 

 Rather would it seem to be the level of bodily activity 

 demanded of the population in these areas. 



"There can be little doubt that human blood pressure 

 and stress on the circulatory mechanism are lower in 

 tropical regions than in stormy temperate areas. People 

 going from west central Europe or central North America to 

 the tropics nearly always suffer a marked fall in blood 

 pressure within a year or two, even though no debilitating 

 disease or infection has occurred. 



1 International Clinics, Vol. 2, pp. 143-167, 1936. 



243 



