Atherosclerotic diseases such as coronary heart disease (CHD) head the mortality statistics especially in Western industrialized countries. Age-adjusted mortality rates for CHD in Western populations range between 400 and 900 cases per year per 100 000 males aged 35 –75 years [1]. However, in Asia countries, such as Japan and the People’s Republic of China, CHD mortality is five- to ten-fold less frequent [2, 3].
