Premenopausal black women have up to eight times the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) compared to white women of similar ages. The reasons for this are not known. It is known that diets high in cholesterol and saturated fat (fat that is solid at room temperature, such as butter), raise the plasma cholesterol level when these diets are eaten regularly (that is, for 1-2 weeks or longer). We suspect that the cholesterol level of black women rises more than the cholesterol level of white women when a high fat diet is eaten regularly. In addition, we believe that black women given a single high-fat meal do not get rid of the fat from the blood as well as white women. Both of these conditions may cause the black women to have more rapid development of the atherosclerotic plaque -- the fatty deposit that causes narrowing of the arteries in heart disease. This could explain the higher rate of heart disease in black women. Therefore, the objective of this study is to measure the levels of cholesterol and fat in the bloodstream of black and white women in a fasting state and after eating a high fat meal.
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