[Film leader]
[Young America Films, presents: A CBS Television Network Presentation]
[Music]
[Animated title opening]
[CBS Television]
[Announcer:] From the collegesand universities of the nation,
CBS Television brings you"The Search," the search
to know and understandthe man and his worth,
the search for a richer,happier life for all.
[University of Minnesota]
[Laboratory of Physiological Hygiene]
[Minneapolis, Minnesota]
[Eric Sevareid:]I'm Eric Sevareid.
Of all the instruments in yourdoctor's little black bag,
this one is probably the mostfamiliar, the stethoscope.
It's a simple tool.
It has one purpose, to magnifythe sound of your heartbeat
so that the physician canjudge whether your heart is
comparatively normal.
It would be convenient ifthe sound of your heartbeat
were the only evidencethat medical science needed
to be able to tell you thatyour cardiovascular system is
in good shape, or if itisn't, what to do about it.
Unfortunately, the job ismore complicated than that.
Cardiovascular ailmentscontinue to take
an increasingly heavy tollof American lives, a million
this year.
And medical scienceis coming to the view
that the evidenceoffered by your heartbeat
may be just the smallestpart of the job.
The story we wantto tell you today
is really sort ofa detective story.
And it has a complicated plot.
The killer iscardiovascular disease,
heart failure assome of us call it.
The victims or potentialvictims are you and me.
And the detectives are ateam of scientists operating
at the University of Minnesota[Laboratory of Physiological Hygiene]
out at Gate 27,
under the Minnesotafootball stadium.
The scientific teamisn't operating alone.
500 normal, healthy menof Minneapolis in St. Paul
have been serving them ashuman guinea pigs since 1948.
Reporting in small groupseach day, these volunteers
are being checked andstudied before they
develop heart trouble.
In time, half ofthem may be expected
to get it in some form,many of them to die of it.
It's the aim of the scientistsat Gate 27 to find out why.
What have overwork and tensiongot to do with heart trouble?
What about overweight?
Is there a hearttrouble personality?
What are the best waysof spotting heart trouble
before it sets in?
That's the kind of thing thislaboratory, headed by Dr. Ancel
Keys is trying to find out.
And let's let Dr. Keystell us more about it.
[Dr. Ancel Keys:] Thefacts are simple.
The chief killer of Americansis cardiovascular disease,
disorders and degeneration ofthe heart and blood vessels.
Here are vital statistics.
[Heart Death Rates-Men 40 to 59]
They show that thisproblem here in America
is the worst in the world.
It's not merely aproblem of old people.
The death rate amongcomparatively young men
is shocking.
It's not a reflection onour doctors or hospitals.
Probably our mode of lifeand our diet are involved.
But the trouble is, we justdon't know enough about it.
It strikes without warning.
Of 10 men, we canexpect 5 to get it.
[Metal banging on table]
But we can't saywho or when or why.
[Patient file drawer is open]
[Reminio:] Dr. Keys?
[Dr. Ancel Keys:]Yes, Reminio.
[Reminio:] These 500men you are testing,
they are from allkind of people?
[Dr. Ancel Keys:] With limitedresources of staff and time,
we couldn't study all types.
And we couldn't cover thewhole lifetimes of individuals.
So we started with 300business executives
and professional menfrom 45 to 55 years old.
And to get an idea ofsuch men 25 years younger,
we selected 200University students.
[Reminio:] You call10 men each day?
[Dr. Ancel Keys:]Generally, 10 at a time.
And they hit 8, 10,12 stations, depending
on the items being tested.
Some are repeated each year.
And some change.
They start over here,like this gentleman.
Hello, Fred.
[Fred:] Hello, doc.
[Dr. Ancel Keys:] Excuse me.
How are you?
[Fred:] How am I?
You're supposed to tell meafter I get through this mill.
We'll see you at the conference.
[Dr. Ancel Keys:] Right.
[Reminio:] Dr. Keys, if Ican ask, of these 300 men,
you had the luck?
[Dr. Ancel Keys:] Asof now, there have
been four deaths in fiveyears, one in an accident
and three from heart failure.
12 men have movedfrom completely
normal to definiteheart disease.
And I suppose another dozenare getting into trouble.
But this is much better thanwe had any right to expect.
We hope it stays that way.
As far as the tools andtechniques of investigation go,
many are easily available.
Some we've had to design andmake in our own workshop here.
[Machine drilling]
Some we've tried andput aside as we've
developed simpler means ofgetting the same results.
[Treadmill thumping]
We need measurements that canbe repeated systematically,
ones that arecharacteristic of a man
and that mark himoff from others.
At this stage, we're sure thatthe recognition and measurement
of the differencesbetween individuals
is of first importance.
For example, Dr. Taylor hasa minor challenge for you.
Are you ready, Henry?
[Dr. Taylor:] One of thesemen is an Olympic athlete.
The other has justfinished a valuable paper
on the agglomeration offine particles in iron ore.
Can you tell which is which?
[Dr. Ancel Keys:] Willyou step forward, Karl?
Back in 1924, Dr. KarlAnderson set a world record
for the high hurdles.
And Dick Burlingame has justtaken his master's degree
in the School of Mines here atthe University of Minnesota.
The obvious point is that firstappearances may be deceptive.
Thank you, gentlemen.
And now, Dr. Taylor,for one more example.
[Dr. Taylor:] This time, it'sa plain matter of weight.
By a system of measurementsthat we find useful here,
one of these men weights fourtimes as much as the other.
[Mr. Nelson:] Judge, it's apleasure that I yield to you.
[Doctors all laugh]
[Dr. Ancel Keys:]Mr. Nelson's right.
By our densitometerdownstairs, Judge Rogers
outweighs him almost 4 to 1.
But we'll have to explainthat when we get down there.
[Judge Rogers:] Well, I guesswe'd better get started,
hadn't we, Dr. Keys?
[Dr. Ancel Keys:] Ifyou will, Judge.
Identification canbe made in many ways,
some more accurate than others.
Dr. Simonson might moreeasily recognize a man
from his electrocardiogramthan from his picture.
Mrs. Foster would prefera picture, but not
the ordinary kind.
[Displaying X-rayson a light box]
Dr. Joseph Anderson mightask for a chemical reaction
before being sure.
By choice, as aclinical psychiatrist,
Dr. Donald Hastings would rathermeet and talk with a person
whose characteristicshe wanted to record.
Henry Taylor would want his manon a ballistocardiograph table.
Dr. William Maloney,as a physician,
employs the direct methods manyof you are more familiar with.
But all of us here areinterested to some degree
in all the variedways by which we can
hope to look at and know a man.
[Mr. Berry examineshis paperwork]
[Eric Sevareid:] Dr.Keys, a question.
What are some ofthe methods you use
to discover the conditionof these people's hearts
to begin with?
[Dr. Ancel Keys:]X-ray is important.
Even though we only seethe shadow of the heart,
its shape and motion tellus much, particularly when
we measure them.
[X-ray image of chest area]
At the back of theeyeball is the only set
of arteries that can be seenclearly without surgery.
[Eric Sevareid:] I see.
And this gives you a good viewof the circulatory system.
[Dr. Ancel Keys:] The chemistryof the blood is complicated.
But a promising lead forpredicting coronary heart
disease comes from cholesterolmeasurements in the blood.
We are finding thatblood cholesterol
is influenced by the diet.
There are many indirectways of learning
about the state of theheart and the circulation.
[Doctor Maloney examininga male patient]
[Mr. Berry knocks on door]
[Door opening]
[Mr. Berry:] Morning, doctor.
Are you ready for me yet?
[Dr. Simonson:] Good morning.
[?] for a minute... but comeright in, please.
[Mr. Berry:] Well, fine.
[Eric Sevareid:] Weare now entering
one of the specialtesting rooms where
the men are placedunder various conditions
and their heartreactions compared.
[Machines hum]
[Dr. Simonson:] [?]
[Machine hum, ticking and pulsing]
[Mr. Berry:] Dr. Simonson, youtake these cardiogram readings
from the chest andthe arms and the legs,
but don't they allmean the same thing?
[Dr. Simonson:] Basically, yes.
Dr. Schmidt will be gladto explain it to you.
[Dr. Schmidt:] I'd be glad to try.
You see this modelof the human heart,
how different itlooks when viewed
from different directions.
We'd like to see thecorresponding picture
of the electrical activityof the human heart.
And theoretically, itshould look something
like this wire modelin three dimensions.
Now, we're rapidly developingan instrument to do this
and to give us a direct 3Dpicture of the whole heart's
activity.
But until this instrumentis generally available,
we'll have to satisfy ourselveswith one or two dimensional
shadows of this picture,something like those
that this would caston a piece of paper.
Let me show you that.
You see, pictures likethese would correspond
to the various positions thatare measured on you
by Dr. Simonson.
[Mr. Berry:] I see, doctor.
What you mean then is when wetake these cardiogram readings,
if we just took them fromthe leg or from the arm
or from the chest, thenwe'd lose the other parts
of the heart activity.
[Dr. Schmidt:] You'd miss allof the electrical activity
except that which is shownin one of these shadows.
[Mr. Berry:] I see well,thank you doctor.
[Dr. Schmidt:] You're welcome.Excuse me.
[Dr. Simonson:] Weare through now.
And I'll be readyfor you in a minute.
[Mr. Berry:] Fine, doctor.
[Electrocardiogram Patient:]Thank you, doctor.
[Dr. Simonson:] You're welcome.
[Treadmill hum]
How much longer hasMr. Burlingame to walk?
[Treadmill Doctor:] Oh, aboutfour minutes more.
[Dr. Simonson:] Thank you.
[Eric Sevareid:] Mr.Berry is about to have
an electrocardiogramtaken, recording the action
of his heart while relaxed.
He will later be subjected tophysical exertion and his heart
tested under those conditions.
[Nurse attaches leads]
[Dr. Simonson:] We are ready nowfor your first [?] Mr. Berry.
[Nurse attaches leads]
[Dr. Simonson marks cardiaclead placement locations]
[Eric Sevareid:] The doctoris marking the positions
where the electricalcontacts will be made.
[Nurse attaches right arm lead]
[Dr. Simonson:] Chest[?] V1.
[Machine printing report]
V2.
[Machine printing report]
V3.
[Machine printing report]
Chest [?] V4.
[Machine printing report]
That's all.
We are through now, Mr. Berry.
[Eric Sevareid:] Testingthe heart before and after
a measured stress disclosesmany hidden faults.
[Mr. Burlingamewalking on treadmill]
That's Burlingame's expiredbreath filling the metal bell.
That's measured too.
[Machine hum]
[Facemask removed]
[Mr. Berry:] Pretty good workout?
[Dick Burlingame:] No breakfast,it surely was.
[Mr. Berry:] Ready for me, doctor?
[Treadmill Doctor:] Sure am.
[Mr. Berry has face mask put on]
[Doctor attaches a nose clip]
[Treadmill power engaged]
[Treadmill hum]
[Mr. Berry walking with dress shoes]
[Treadmill hum]
[Dr. Ancel Keys:] But of course,stresses can be of many kinds,
some less easy tomeasure than others.
At this station,combining, temporarily,
the duties of a psychologistwith his own function
as a psychiatrist,Dr. Hastings is
taking a personalityinventory that makes up
part of our record on each man.
[Dr. Hastings:] On this test,you realize, of course,
that there are noright or wrong answers.
And we would like you to answeras promptly and as accurately
as you can for yourself.
And just to be sure thatyou understand the test,
I wonder if you'd pick outseveral questions at random.
[Paper form flipped]
[Speaker 1:] "I often check twiceto see whether the door is
locked or not.
True, not true, or false."
Yeah, I guess Ido that all right.
[Pen tapping the table]
"Any time I have a chance,I'll go to a party."
[Dr. Hastings smiles]
No, not anymore.
Time was when I'd--
but you want ananswer as of now.
"I frequently havetrouble making up my mind
about things."
Well, I don't say I can't makeup my mind when I have to,
but, well, you could takethis two or three ways.
On the little thingsor maybe even--
[Dr. Hastings:] The questionis, do you frequently
have trouble makingup your mind?
[Speaker 1:] All right.
I guess I can't deny it.
[Dr. Hastings displays a picture]
[Dr. Hastings:] Thepoint of these pictures
is to call out your spontaneousreaction patterns to them.
And you can help usmost by suggesting
your first impressionsabout each picture.
Who the people are,what they're doing,
any story you'd careto invent about them.
Now, take thisone, for instance.
[Speaker 2:] Anything I think of?
[Dr. Hastings:] Anything you wish.
[Speaker 2:] Well, it lookslike a young wife who
might've opened a letter thatshe didn't want her husband
to see.
She's sort ofsecretive about it.
[Dr. Hastings:] Her own mail?
[Speaker 2:] Possibly.
[Dr. Hastings:] Thank you.
Now, this picture.
[Speaker 2:] Well, itlooks like a young man
who is sitting high up.
Looks like he's looking outover the city, possibly,
from the Foshay Towerhere in Minneapolis.
[Dr. Hastings:] Just enjoyingthe view of the city?
[Speaker 2:] He looks like he'sgiving things a once over.
[Dr. Hastings:] You say the manmight be courting this girl?
[Speaker 3:] No.
But wait a minute, he'sgot a pipe in his mouth.
He's probably married to her.
[Speaker 4:] It's a manand his secretary.
And whatever he said must'vehit her right in the teeth.
[Laughs]
[Dr. Hastings:] What doesthis picture reminds you of?
[Mr. Nelson:] A countrykid-- trying to slip out
the window, a secretway to go fishing.
[Dr. Hastings:] Will he getcaught when he gets back?
[Mr. Nelson:] Notif I can help it.
[Speaker 5:] Well,it's an air raid.
I've seen the magnesiumflares myself.
No, wait a minute.
[Man clinching hands] It's--
[Dr. Hastings:] It'snot an air raid?
[Speaker 5:] No.
No, he's looking out the windowat something bright and good.
And there may betrouble in the city,
but he's looking outtoward the mountains.
He figures everything'sgoing to be all right,
everything's going to be OK.
[Eric Sevareid:] Inthis laboratory,
Dr. Henry Taylor is preparingto take a ballistocardiogram.
The test is based upona principle discovered
76 years ago by aScottish physiologist when
he suspended a bed fromthe ceiling with ropes
and found that the bed wouldmove in rhythm with a man's
beating heart.
The bed here is supportedon fine springs.
And a record is taken of themotion imparted to the bed
by the subject's pumping heart.
Dr. Taylor, what dothese records tell you?
[Dr. Taylor:] We arebeginning to find
that these ballisticrecords are related
to age and to thestate of the heart.
The true meaning ofrecords of this kind
will only be found bylong-term follow-up
studies on the same man.
Let me show you howwe make these records.
The recoil of this table fromthe force of the heart pumping
blood is only about3,000th of an inch.
Now, this tinymotion is accurately
magnified by thisoptical system.
The moving spotof light has to be
photographed in total darkness.
The light is moving in responseto the beat of the heart.
We record the heartsound at the same time
to identify the actionof the heart valves.
[Vertical light strip oscillating][Heart lub dub sound]
[Eric Sevareid:] Now, we'redown in the densitometer room.
And Dr. Keys is aboutto explain how they
measure the weight of a man.
[Dr. Ancel Keys:] Sinceoverweight apparently
influences the aging of theheart and blood vessels,
it's important toanalyze precisely what we
mean by overweight.
For example, are wetalking about fat?
Are we talking aboutmuscle and bone?
Here, let me show youhow we get at this.
A football playerin good training
may outweigh a desk worker ofthe same height by 20 pounds
and still be far less fat.
The athlete'soverweight is muscle.
The light worker andheavy eater is overweight
because of excess fat.
And these twokinds of overweight
have very different meanings.
[Machine sound followed bywater submersion]
How can we decide andmeasure which is which?
Now, fat is lighter than water.
A chunk of lard orsuet will float.
But bone and muscleare much more dense.
When we weigh a mancompletely underwater,
we get a measure ofthe proportion of fat
to muscle and bone in his body.
But we must correctfor the buoyancy
of the air in the lungs.
This means we have to measurethe amount of air in the lungs
at the moment the weightis recorded underwater.
Dick Burlingame isgetting oxygen now
to flush out all of theair that was in his lungs
when he was weighed.
It's all collectedin the metal bell.
It takes seven minutes toflush out the lungs completely.
[Machine sound and water dripping]
About half the total fat of thebody is right under the skin.
By comparing the resultsof underwater weighing
with skin foldmeasurements, we're
beginning to learn howto estimate the total fat
by the simple caliper.
OK, Dick?
9.2, Walt.-- 11.8.
But for some timeto come, we'll have
to go on checking the underwaterweighing against the caliper
to find the reliabilityof this simple method.
[Dick Burlingame:]Well, does that mean
we will go on dunkingagain next year, doctor?
[Dr. Ancel Keys:]You'll go on dunking.
And each year, in thegeneral interview,
we try to keep upwith a man's changing
habits in a number of fields.
Still like applesas much as ever?
[Mr. Berry:] Haven't got one inyour pocket, have you, doctor?
[Dr. Ancel Keys:] Sorry.
You have to pass throughthree more stations, you know.
Now, physical activity.
Any change since last year?
[Mr. Berry:]Practically no change.
I go in for a littlemild exercise,
like tennis, but mixeddoubles though.
[Eric Sevareid:] And so the workgoes on at the laboratory.
Measure, record, compare,each man against hundreds
of others, each man againsthimself in years past and years
to come.
How quickly does acirculatory system
react to externalchanges of heat and cold?
What does this tell us about thecondition of the blood vessels?
How quickly doesa system recover?
And what informationdoes this give us
about its generalrecuperative powers?
What is theefficiency of arteries
at the extremities of the body?
And how does this affect therest of the circulatory system?
What relation is therebetween metabolism
and the condition of the heart?
Search for clues.
Question and question again.
The answers come slowly.
But the important thing isthat the answers do come
and the vital store ofknowledge grows day by day.
[Judge Rogers:] See youagain next year.
[Dr. Ancel Keys:] Next year.
[Mr. Berry:] We hope.
[Judge Rogers:] Nice to haveseen you again, Mr. Berry.
[Mr. Berry:] Good night, Doc.
[Assistant:] Dr. Keys, areyou ready to check over
the list for tomorrow'sexaminations?
[Dr. Ancel Keys:] LieutenantBlye, Dean Deal, Clyde Haynes,
Dr. Crawford, [Faint speaking].
[Eric Sevareid:] It'sbeen an exhausting day
at the laboratoryfor the guinea pigs
as well as for the scientists.
[Light traffic noise]
500 patient citizensof Minnesota
and the dedicated scientificteam out at Gate 27
are on the track of a killer.
As research continues,the scientists
are learning moreabout the chemistry
of man, about hispersonality patterns,
about his workingand living habits,
and the effect of all these uponthe well-being of the heart.
It's a long, tedious road ahead.
But the eventual rewardsare great for us all.
So far, Dr. Ancelkeys and his staff
are not ready to draw any flatconclusions about their work.
There is much moreto be learned.
Recent evidence does seem torefute the widespread belief
that overweight is a primarycause of coronary disease.
But beyond that, they arecautious about predictions.
It may take another5, 10, or 20 years.
But someday, they hopeto be able to foretell,
with reasonableaccuracy, which men
are likely to developcardiovascular disease
and, in time, to prevent it.
Actually, it's only withinthe past few centuries
that medical science hasmade such tremendous strides
in eradicating thediseases of man.
Already, some of the dreadkillers of yesterday, smallpox,
diphtheria, cholera,are virtually
non-existent in our country.
And it may be onlya matter of time
before the cripplers of today,heart disease, polio, cancer,
are also brought under control.
But it's only through thecontinuing search that
is going on at theUniversity of Minnesota
and at universitiesand laboratories
throughout the world thatthe answers will be found
and the hope for abetter future fulfilled.
[Music]
[University of Minnesota Laboratoryof Physiological Hygiene]
[Narrator: Eric Sevareid]
[Produced for The Search by: Roy Lockwood;Film consultant: Alfred Butterfield]
[Written by: Charles O'Neill;Additional material by: Lawrence Mollot]
[Production Manager: Robert Milford; Supervising film editor: Sidney Katz]
[Film editor: Ralph Rosenblum]
[Filmed by: Information Productions, Inc.for CBS Television]
[Musical director: Ben Ludlow]
[Directed by: Julian Roffman]
[The Search is produced by: Irving Gitlin]
[The End]
[A Young America Films, c 1955]