[Atherosclerosis and possibilities of dietary prevention or therapy]

Hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, smoking and diabetes mellitus are the main risk-factors for the development of early atherosclerosis. The association of hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis is well established: there is a strong correlation of the duration and severity of atherosclerosis to the extend of plaque-formation. Dietetic measures in large populations show reduction in cardiovascular events, drastic lipid-lowering therapy (i.e. drugs, plasma exchange, ileum-bypass operation) may induce regression of plaque-formation.