Diet and Cerebrovascular Disease

Abstract

Atherosclerosis appears to be the disease of a single type of cell: intimal smooth muscle cells. These are individual cells capable of secreting fibres, their normal function is the repair of injuries. They regulate their intake of low density lipoprotein (LDL) from the plasma by varying the number of LDL receptors appearing on their surface. A control mechanism apparently monitors the quantity of free cholesterol in an intracellular pool and promotes or retards LDL receptor synthesis according to its size. It is assumed that the regulatory mechanism may malfunction under certain conditions in the sense that an adequate store of free cholesterol fails to suppress receptor synthesis. Consequently the cell continues to draw LDL from the plasma regardless of its needs, until it is overloaded with lipids and ultimately dies. The two main forms of atherosclerosis: coronary and cerebrovascular disease appear to be diet-related, but associated with different diets. Coronary disease is correlated with the consumption of foods of animal origin, particularly milk, cerebrovascular disease with the consumption of plant proteins. A possible reason is that the diet contains more than one item with atherogenic properties, some of which are able to pass through the blood/brain barrier, while others are unable to do so. It is suggested that these pathogens are oestrogens and oestrogen mimics in the diet.