ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 28, 1997 TAG: 9701280067
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: JAMES ROWLEY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Teen-agers may increase their risk of heart disease later in life by smoking or eating fatty foods, according to a study of autopsy results that' found artery blockage in young people who died accidentally.
The study found dramatic differences in the severity of fatty deposits on the arteries of teen-agers and other young people, depending on whether they smoked or ate diets rich in fat.
Fatty deposits and lesions were found in the major arteries of young people with high levels of cholesterol in their blood, according to the autopsies performed on 1,079 men and 364 women between the ages of 15 and 34.
The amount of fatty deposits increased with age, and the difference between subjects with high and low cholesterol showed up as early as age 15, according to the study published in the January issue of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.
Although studies based on autopsies of American soldiers killed during the Korean and Vietnam wars found similar results, this is first large sample of data from young women, said Dr. Basil Rifkind, of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, which sponsored the research.
The researchers said their study disproves the notion that women, who generally have heart attacks 10 years later then men, do not have to alter their diets as early in life as men.
``It pretty firmly adds another large piece to the jigsaw puzzle and says the problems of diet and heart disease is something that starts off early in life,'' Rifkind said.
A childhood diet rich in fatty foods can begin the progression toward heart disease later in life, the researchers concluded.
Children who eat a lot of cheeseburgers and milkshakes increase their risk of heart attacks if they do not change their dietary habits by young adulthood, researchers said.
``The saturated fat intake and the calories a single meal of that sort provides is tremendous and make you use up your daily rations in one meal,'' Rifkind said.
The heart institute's National Cholesterol Education Program recommends that all children over the age of 2 keep fat consumption under 30 percent of daily calories and saturated fat under 10 percent.
But there has been a debate among scientists about how early dietary changes are needed to reduce the risk of heart disease later in life.
Begun in 1985, the study's findings were extended for the first time to women.
The study found a high correlation between cholesterol levels and fatty deposits in girls and young women as well as boys and men. The same patterns were found in whites and blacks.
Blood-serum cholesterol tests were performed during the autopsies, which also tested for the presence of the chemical thiocyanate, an indicator of smoking.
Subjects with high levels of low-density (LDL) cholesterol, the bad cholesterol, also had streaks of fat or raised lesions on the inner surfaces of the aorta and the right coronary artery.
Fewer deposits of fat were found among subjects with high levels of high-density (HDL) cholesterol, which is credited with helping clear the arteries, and low levels of LDL cholesterol, the study found.
As fat deposits build up in the arteries, the risk of blockage and heart attack increases.
Fifteen centers around the country collected data from autopsies performed on young people who were victims of homicide, suicide or accidental deaths. Tissue samples and blood were analyzed at the Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans.
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