Epidemiology and the role of antioxidants in preventing coronary heart disease: a brief overview

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the principal cause of premature death in the Western world.Early epidemiological studies have implicated dietary saturated fat, presumably due to its serum cholesterol-raising effect, as an important risk factor.However, cholesterol and other classical risk factors, such as blood pressure, do not fully explain an individual's risk of CHD (Heller et al. 1984).The theory that the balance between factors that promote free-radical-mediated oxidation and the antioxidant defence mechanisms (i.e.'oxidative stress') may be a specific risk factor for CHD (Steinberg et al. 1989) has gained more acceptance.The aim of the present brief review is to examine critically the recent epidemiological evidence.