Lipids and human health

• whats the main cause of heart disease?

  fatty acid deposits on the inner wall of the coronary arteries (atherosclerosis) and high blood pressure (hypertension)
• what are contributory factors of heart disease?

  • a diet that’s high in saturated fats
  • smoking
  • lack of exercise
  • aging
• whats the single leading cause of death in the Uk?

  damage to the heart and blood vessels
• how are lipoproteins created?

  when food has been absorbed at the small intestine, lipids and proteins combine to make lipoprotein, which travel around the body in the bloodstream
• what happens if a diet is high in saturated fats?

  • low density lipoprotein(LDL) builds up and causes harm
  • fatty material(atheroma) gets deposited in the coronary arteries, restricting blood flow and therefore, oxygen delivery to the heart
  • this can result in angina and if the blood vessel is completely blocked, a myocardial infarction or heart attack occurs
• what happens if a diet is high in unsaturated fats?

  • the body makes more high-density lipoproteins(HDL), which carries harmful fats away to the liver for disposal
  • the higher the ratio of HDL:LDL in a persons blood, the lower their risk of cardiovascular and coronary heart disease
• what’s thrombosis?

  blood clots forming where theres atheroma
• what can thrombosis cause?

  it can cause a stroke and a heart attack as sometimes a part of the clot may break away and be carried in the circulation and block a blood vessel distant from where it was formed; blocking a blood vessel in the brain causes a stroke and blocking a blood vessel in the heart causes a heart attack
• what is this the process of?

  process of atherosclerosis