The "father of stress" meets "big tobacco": Hans Selye and the tobacco industry.
The concept of stress remains prominent in public health and owes much to the work of Hans Selye (1907-1982), the "father of stress." One of his main allies in this work has never been discussed as such: the tobacco industry. After an analysis of tobacco industry documents, we found that Selye received extensive tobacco industry funding and that his research on stress and health was used in litigation to defend the industry's interests and argue against a causal role for smoking in coronary heart disease and cancer. These findings have implications for assessing the scientific integrity of certain areas of stress research and for understanding corporate influences on public health research, including research on the social determinants of health.
Petticrew
Mark P
MP
Public and Environmental Health Research Unit (PEHRU), Department of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK. mark.petticrew@lshtm.ac.uk
Lee
Kelley
K
D016265:Conflict of Interest / Q000191:economics; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000209:etiology / Q000266:history*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000266:history*; D012109:Research Support as Topic / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics / Q000266:history; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000266:history*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications / Q000266:history*; D019460:Tobacco Industry / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics / Q000266:history*
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