HYPERCHOLESTEREMIA

Abstract

The demonstration by Anitschkow¹that cholesterol is the biochemical factor responsible for the experimental production of atherosclerosis marked the beginning of modern experimental and clinical investigation into the cause, prevention, and treatment of atherosclerosis. The extent and variety of studies initiated by those original findings almost half a century ago is evidenced by the profuse bibliography appended to any of the recent reviews of the subject. Although the observations noted in this mass of reports are often contradictory and controls adequate to allow for correlation between different studies has been lacking, the general idea is well established that there is an important relationship between the concentration of cholesterol in the blood plasma and the development of atherosclerosis. Recent studies, notably those by Kellner and his associates,²stressed the importance of the physiochemical phenomenon associated with the maintenance of cholesterol and serum lipids in a stable emulsion. The present