"This is the first time that trans fatty acids have been shown to interfere with yet another part of the blood-flow process," said Kummerow, emeritus veterinary biosciences professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He retired in 1971 but still goes into the lab every weekday morning.
In Kummerow's six decades of research on the chemistry of fats and oils, he's published more than 70 articles on trans fats. Last year, he wrote a book, "Cholesterol Won't Kill You, But Trans Fat Could." His latest discovery adds to a long list of evidence pointing to trans fats as significant contributors to heart disease. The report will appear in next month's international journal Atherosclerosis.
Trans fats are associated with inflammation of the arteries, high levels of bad cholesterol and calcified arteries -- all signs of one of the main causes of heart disease, atherosclerosis, where plaque slowly builds up to the point where it interferes with blood flow.
Kummerow's work links trans fats to the other main cause of heart disease -- sudden blood clots in the coronary arteries. His new report shows the fats reduce the amount of a blood-flow enhancer known as prostacyclin. Lower levels of prostacyclin increase the chances for blood clots to develop, which can cause cardiac arrest.
