Blood Flow to Heart Hampered After High-fat Meal.htm

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MEDLINEplus Blood Flow to Heart Hampered After

High-fat Meal.htm

 

 

> MEDLINEplus: Blood Flow to Heart Hampered After High-fat Meal-

> http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_6898.html -

>

> Blood Flow to Heart Hampered After High-fat Meal

> Reuters

> Tuesday, April 2, 2002

>

>

> NEW YORK, Apr 01 (Reuters Health) - While a lifetime of fatty meals can

lead

> to a heart attack, a study released Monday suggests that chowing down on

> just one high-fat meal can interfere with blood flow to the heart in

healthy

> young men.

> In the study, 15 healthy men in their 20s or early 30s consumed a shake

> containing a whopping 1,200 calories and 100 grams of fat--roughly the

> equivalent of eating a fast-food meal plus dessert. All of the men

underwent

> a heart test and had blood samples taken before and after consuming the

> liquid meal.

> The researchers, led by Dr. Takeshi Hozuml of Osaka City University in

> Japan, found that 5 hours after the high-fat meal, the ability of heart

> arteries to expand and increase blood flow to the muscle--a measure known

as

> coronary flow reserve--dropped by 18%.

> In addition, five men underwent the same tests after consuming a low-fat

> 1,200 calorie meal that contained only 10 grams of fat. In that case, the

> men did not have a drop in coronary flow reserve after consuming the meal,

> according to the report in the April issue of the Annals of Internal

> Medicine.

> The findings suggest that coronary microcirculation--the tiny blood

vessels

> that provide oxygen-rich blood to heart muscle--can be impaired by a

> high-fat meal. Although the study did not include people with heart

disease,

> the results could explain why those with heart disease-related chest pain,

> known as angina, can have increased pain after a high-fat meal. The pain

of

> angina is thought to be due to a reduction in blood flow to the heart.

> The heart, the body's blood pumping organ, requires its own blood supply

to

> function properly. Coronary arteries are the main blood vessels that

supply

> the blood to the heart, and if a blockage occurs the surrounding vessels

> compensate by expanding in size to keep the proper amount of blood flowing

> to the heart.

> Doctors have know that a high-fat meals, which increase the amount of

fatty

> substances in the blood such as triglycerides, can over time lead to

artery

> clogging and eventually heart attacks. In the new study, the investigators

> found that triglyceride levels jumped from 140 milligrams per deciliter of

> blood (mg/dL) after the high-fat meal, but only 10 mg/dL after the low-fat

> meal.

> While the researchers were not able to determine if the increase in

> triglyceride levels was responsible for the decrease in the heart's blood

> flow reserve, the authors say the findings suggest implications for

patients

> with heart disease.

> SOURCE: Annals of Internal Medicine 2002;136:523-528.

>

>

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for

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>

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