That is the 'bad' cholesterol which forms atherosclerotic lesions, the fatty deposits which narrow the arteries and lead to heart disease.

BBC: NEWS | Health | Pomegranates: the fruity panacea

This constant low-level overproduction of leukotrienes, DeCode researchers figure, inflames artery walls, over time helping destabilize fatty deposits and making them prone to sudden rupture.

FORBES: Attacking Heart Attacks

The good news is that there is also a CT scan available to detect fatty deposits that constitute soft plaque, called a Coronary CT Angiography (CTA).

FORBES: My Visit with a Cardiologist, and What You Should Know About Your Heart

In 1979 pathologist Ross Gerrity showed that in pigs one of the first steps in the formation of artery plaque occurs when macrophages travel into the artery and gobble up cholesterol inside, forming fatty deposits.

FORBES: On The Cover/Top Stories

But in people who are older than this - as most of the nurses in the study were - it can be the first sign of coronary heart disease, where the heart's arteries become blocked by fatty deposits.

BBC: Light smoking 'doubles sudden heart death risk in women'

Dr Baigent said surveys in the UK have shown that aspirin is prescribed to less than a quarter of people with diseases such as peripheral arterial disease - a condition which causes fatty deposits to build up in the arteries of the leg, and which commonly leads to heart attacks or strokes.

BBC: Aspirin

The French scientists looked at 163 non-drinkers who had fatty livers - where fat deposits build up in the organ, potentially leading to formation of fibrous tissue and then to cirrhosis or even liver cancer - to see how many of them had the sleep disorder.

BBC: NEWS | Health | Sleep disorder liver disease link

They monitored how volunteers' arteries coped with the fatty drink and checked for calcium deposits in their coronary arteries, a sign of heart disease.

CNN: Gene mutation protects against milk shakes and other fatty fare