BMJ  2005;331:234 (23 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7510.234

Letter

A tale of two Germanys

Health problems in eastern Germany are clearly related to transition

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 marked the beginning of the end of communism in eastern Europe and in eastern Germany. As McKee and Fister point out,¹ certain constellations of epidemiological and demographic variables characterise the resultant process of political and economic transition: low or even decreasing life expectancy (especially for men) and higher prevalences of alcoholism and obesity. This has happened in the post-communist Länder (federal states) of eastern Germany.

East Germany is different from other east European countries in that its healthcare sector was not deconstructed, with periods of severe dysfunction: it simply adopted the healthcare system of West Germany. Despite this, life expectancy at birth is still lower in eastern Germany than in western Germany, although the difference had diminished at the end of the 1990s.²

Alcoholic disease is a feature of the typical transition process. The number of . . . [Full text of this article]

Schwartz.FW@mh-hannover.de
Hanover Medical School Department of Epidemiology, Social Medicine and Health System Research, Carl-Neuberg-Strasse 1, D-30625 Hanover, Germany

Hanover Medical School Department of Epidemiology, Social Medicine and Health System Research, Carl-Neuberg-Strasse 1, D-30625 Hanover, Germany

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Post-communist transition and health in Europe

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• Wurm, S., Tesch-Romer, C., Tomasik, M. J. (2007). Longitudinal Findings on Aging-Related Cognitions, Control Beliefs, and Health in Later Life. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Science 62: P156-P164 [Abstract] [Full text]  

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Transition or inheritance

Miodrag Ristich
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2005 [Full text]

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