PROGNOSIS OF MYOCARDIAL-INFARCTION AND BRAIN FUNCTIONAL ASYMMETRY

Seventy-eight men (mean age, 47.0 +/- 1.1 years) who had suffered from myocardial infarction were examined. Blood cholesterol, lipoproteins, triglycerides, insulin and cortisol concentrations were compared in p atients with left hemishpere or right hemisphere cerebral dominance. P atients with left hemisphere dominance had more serious disease and mu ch higher levels of blood cholesterol and lipoproteins. Patients with right hemisphere dominance had the highest levels of blood cortisol an d insulin. The brain's functional asymmetry may be one of the risk fac tors for coronary atherosclerosis in subjects under the age of 50 year s.