Atherosclerosis is a hardening and narrowing of your arteries caused by cholesterol plaques lining the artery over time. It can put blood flow at risk as your
arteries become blocked. You might hear it called arteriosclerosis or atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. It’s the usual cause of heart attacks, strokes, and peripheral
vascular disease -- what together are called cardiovascular disease. You can prevent and treat this process. Arteries are blood vessels that carry blood from your
heart throughout your body. They're lined by a thin layer of cells called the endothelium. It keeps the inside of your arteries in shape and smooth, which keeps blood flowing. Atherosclerosis begins with damage to the endothelium. Common causes include: That damage causes plaque to build up along the walls of your arteries. When bad cholesterol, or LDL, crosses
a damaged endothelium, it enters the wall of your artery. Your white blood cells stream in to digest the LDL. Over the years, cholesterol and cells become plaque in the wall of your artery. Plaque creates a bump on your artery wall. As atherosclerosis gets worse, that bump gets bigger. When it gets big enough, it can create a
blockage. That process goes on throughout your entire body. It’s not only your heart at risk. You’re also at risk for stroke and other health problems. Atherosclerosis usually doesn’t cause symptoms until you’re middle-age or older. As the narrowing becomes severe, it can choke off blood flow and
cause pain. Blockages can also rupture suddenly. That causes blood to clot inside an artery at the site of the rupture. You might not have symptoms until your artery is nearly closed or until you have a heart attack or
stroke. Symptoms can also depend on which artery is narrowed or blocked. Symptoms related to your coronary arteries include: Symptoms related to the arteries that deliver
blood to your brain include:
Symptoms related to the arteries of your arms, legs, and pelvis include:
What Are the Risk Factors for Atherosclerosis?Atherosclerosis starts when you’re young. Research has found that even teenagers can have signs. If you’re 40 and generally healthy, you have about a 50% chance of getting serious atherosclerosis in your lifetime. The risk goes up as you get older. Most adults older than 60 have some atherosclerosis, but most don’t have noticeable symptoms. These risk factors are behind more than 90% of all heart attacks:
Rates of death from atherosclerosis have fallen 25% in the past 3 decades. This is because of better lifestyles and improved treatments. How Do You Diagnose Atherosclerosis?Your doctor will start with a physical exam. They’ll listen to your arteries and check for weak or absent pulses. You might need tests, including:
You might also need to see doctors who specialize in certain parts of your body, like cardiologists or vascular specialists, depending on your condition. Plaques from atherosclerosis can behave in different ways. They can stay in your artery wall. There, the plaque grows to a certain size and then stops. Since this plaque doesn't block blood flow, it may never cause symptoms. Plaque can grow in a slow, controlled way into the path of blood flow. Over time, it causes
significant blockages. Pain in your chest or legs when you exert yourself is the usual symptom. The worst happens when plaques suddenly rupture, allowing blood to clot inside an artery. In your brain, this causes a stroke; in your heart, a heart attack. The plaques of atherosclerosis cause the three main kinds of cardiovascular disease:
What Are the Complications of Atherosclerosis?Complications of atherosclerosis include:
How Do You Treat Atherosclerosis?Once you have a blockage, it's generally there to stay. But with medication and lifestyle changes, you can slow or stop plaques. They may even shrink slightly with aggressive treatment. Lifestyle changes: You can slow or stop atherosclerosis by taking care of the risk factors. That means a healthy diet, exercise, and no smoking. These changes won't remove blockages, but they’re proven to lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Medication: Drugs for high cholesterol and high blood pressure will slow and may even halt atherosclerosis. They lower your risk of heart attack and stroke. Your doctor can use more invasive techniques to open blockages from atherosclerosis or go around them:
Your doctor will discuss the complications of these procedures with you. How is atherosclerosis of the leg treated?Here are some medications used to treat atherosclerosis: Statins and other cholesterol drugs. Aggressively lowering low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol — the "bad" cholesterol — can slow, stop or even reverse the buildup of fatty deposits in the arteries.
What causes atherosclerosis of native arteries of the extremities?Development of atherosclerosis
If there's too much cholesterol in the blood, the cholesterol and other substances may form deposits (plaques) that collect on artery walls. Plaques can cause an artery to become narrowed or blocked. If a plaque ruptures, a blood clot can form.
What is atherosclerosis of native arteries of extremities with intermittent claudication bilateral legs?The main cause of intermittent claudication is a condition called peripheral artery disease (PAD). That condition happens with atherosclerosis, which is a buildup of a wax-like substance called plaque on the inside of your arteries. As that buildup gets worse, there's less room for blood to flow through those arteries.
What are the symptoms of atherosclerosis in the legs?Symptoms. Coldness in the lower leg or foot, especially when compared with the other side.. Leg numbness or weakness.. No pulse or a weak pulse in the legs or feet.. Painful cramping in one or both of the hips, thighs or calf muscles after certain activities, such as walking or climbing stairs.. Shiny skin on the legs.. |