In another study, rabbits fed heated soybean oil "grossly induced atherosclerosis and marked liver damage were histologically and clinically demonstrated." However, Fred Kummerow claims that it is not dietary cholesterol, but oxysterols, or oxidized cholesterols, from fried foods and smoking, that are the culprit.Rancid fats and oils taste very unpleasant in even small amounts, so people avoid eating them. It is very difficult to measure or estimate the actual human consumption of these substances. Highly unsaturated omega-3 rich oils such as fish oil, when being sold in pill form, can hide the taste of oxidized or rancid fat that might be present. In the US, the health food industrys dietary supplements are self-regulated and outside of FDA regulations. To properly protect unsaturated fats from oxidation, it is best to keep them cool and in oxygen-free environments. Pathophysiology
Atherogenesis is the developmental process of atheromatous plaques. It is characterized by a remodeling of arteries leading to subendothelial accumulation of fatty substances called plaques. The buildup of an atheromatous plaque is a slow process, developed over a period of several years through a complex series of cellular events occurring within the arterial wall and in response to a variety of local vascular circulating factors. One recent hypothesis suggests that, for unknown reasons, leukocytes, such as monocytes or basophils, begin to attack the endothelium of the artery lumen in cardiac muscle. The ensuing inflammation leads to the formation of atheromatous plaques in the arterial tunica intima, a region of the vessel wall located between the endothelium and the tunica media.
Plaque occurrence and accumulation lead to decreased kidney blood flow and chronic kidney disease, which, like in all other areas, is typically asymptomatic until late stages.According to United States data for 2004, in about 66% of men and 47% of women, the first symptom of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is a heart attack or sudden cardiac death (death within one hour of onset of the symptom). Cardiac stress testing, traditionally the most commonly performed non-invasive testing method for blood flow limitations, in general, detects only lumen narrowing of ≈75% or greater, although some physicians claim that nuclear stress methods can detect as little as 50%.Case studies have included autopsies of U.S. soldiers killed in World War II and the Korean War. A much-cited report involved the autopsies of 300 U.S. soldiers killed in Korea. Although the average age of the men was 22.1 years, 77.3 percent had "gross evidence of coronary arteriosclerosis". Other studies done of soldiers in the Vietnam War showed similar results, although often worse than the ones from the earlier wars. Theories include high rates of tobacco use and (in the case of the Vietnam soldiers) the advent of processed foods after World War II. Risk factors
The atherosclerotic process is not well understood. Atherosclerosis is associated with inflammatory processes in the endothelial cells of the vessel wall associated with retained low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles.