EFFECT OF FEEDING A LIPOTROPIC SUBSTANCE TO PATIENTS WITH XANTHELASMA

Abstract

The association of hyperlipemia with xanthelasma is well known and has been the subject of study by several investigators.¹ The relation which the hyperlipemia has to cardiovascular disease, especially peripheral and coronary arteriosclerosis, is less well recognized but likewise has been found to be rather common.¹ From such observations, it would seem that the presence of these benign fatty lesions within the skin of the eyelids may suggest a disturbance in fat metabolism, in some persons severe enough to warrant further study in regard to the blood lipids, cardiac function and peripheral vascular sufficiency. If xanthelasma may at times be the herald lesions of disturbed fat metabolism, it then should be determined whether some of the lipotropic substances which have so pronounced an effect on several types of experimental and acquired disturbances in fat storage and metabolism might not be of value in lowering the blood