Abstract
Ninety-three aortas and 59 sets of coronary arteries from an unselected series of autopsies on Malaysian Orang Asli have been stained with Sudan IV, and the area of involvement by fatty streaks, fibrous plaques and complicated lesions quantitated by a point-counting technique. Wilcoxon's test showed no significant difference in the extent of lesions between the 2 sexes in the different age groups. At all ages, the area affected by fatty streaks in both the aorta and the coronary arteries, was similar to those in western populations in whom ischaemic heart disease is common. On the other hand, there was a very low prevalence of fibrous plaques and complicated lesions, the severity and extent of these lesions being less than those of the population groups reported by the International Atherosclerosis Project. A brief review of the mode of life and habits of the Orang Asli is presented.