Does dietary trans fatty acid intake relate to the prevalence of coronary heart disease in Scotland?
Reports of the effects of trans fatty acids on coronary heart disease are inconsistent. Trans fatty acids may particularly influence coronary risk when linoleic acid levels are low, a situation which occurs in Scotland where prevalence of coronary heart disease is also very high. The link between trans fatty acid intake and prevalent coronary heart disease was therefore investigated in the Scottish Heart Health Study population. Trans fatty acid intakes were calculated from 10/359 sets of food-frequency questionnaire data obtained from the cross-sectional survey of men and women aged 40-59 years. Logistic regression analysis was used to calculate the odds ratios for prevalent coronary heart disease by fifths of dietary intake of total, natural and commercial hydrogenation-derived trans fatty acid. The group who had undiagnosed coronary heart disease at the time of survey was the pertinent group for examining the possible causative effects of trans fatty acid intake. After adjustment fo
