Overall Objectives of the Lipids and Chronic Diseases Research Core: High intakes of lipids and calories are associated with increased incidence and severity of chronic diseases including diabetes, obesity, certain cancers, and cardiovascular diseases (CVD). As a consequence of high intakes of fat, lipid metabolism is altered and contributes to the initiation and development of disease processes. The disease process in turn alters metabolism further contributing to additional complications. One of the most prevalent risk factors and targets of therapy for these diseases is dyslipidemias, which are known to be affected by diet. Minority populations have disproportionately high incidences and morbidities of all chronic diseases and specifically prostate cancer (Powell and Meyskens 2001), diabetes (Kamel, Rodriguez-Saldana et al. 1999), asthma (Strunk, Ford et al. 2002), obesity (including childhood obesity (Crawford, Story et al. 2001), and cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Observations from the largest survey of dietary habits and health status in the U.S., the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), have established that older black and Mexican American women and black men were at greatest risk for CVD (Winkleby, Kraemer et al. 1998; Sundquist, Winkleby et al. 2001), paralleling the heightened risk of CVD among younger ethnic minority populations (Winkleby, Robinson et al. 1999). Multiple CVD risk factors, including plasma lipids as well as dietary fat, obesity, hypertension, and diabetes, contribute to these ethnic differences.
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