THERE IS a widely held view that blood cholesterol and nutrition play a role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. In recent monographs1,2 on the subject, however, many dissenting opinions are expressed. This may be due to the fact that the evidence linking these factors with atherosclerosis is indirect or inconclusive. It is largely based on observations that mortality rates from heart attacks are higher in obese than in thin men and that in populations where famine conditions are prevalent blood cholesterol levels tend to be low and atherosclerosis mild.
Conflicting results have been obtained concerning the relation of nutrition to atherosclerosis from analyses of necropsy findings. In one investigation3 significantly less sclerotic changes of the aorta were found more often in severely malnourished persons than in markedly obese ones. Faber and Lund4 were unable to confirm this finding and others 5 have found little or no relationship between nutrition and