Related topics: heart attack
Atherosclerosis
hideAtherosclerosis is the condition in which an artery wall thickens as the result of a build-up of fatty materials such as cholesterol. It is a syndrome affecting arterial blood vessels, a chronic inflammatory response in the walls of arteries, in large part due to the accumulation of macrophage white blood cells and promoted by low density (especially small particle) lipoproteins (plasma proteins that carry cholesterol and triglycerides) without adequate removal of fats and cholesterol from the macrophages by functional high density lipoproteins (HDL), (see apoA-1 Milano). It is commonly referred to as a hardening or furring of the arteries. It is caused by the formation of multiple plaques within the arteries.
The atheromatous plaque is divided into three distinct components:
The following terms are similar, yet distinct, in both spelling and meaning, and can be easily confused: arteriosclerosis, arteriolosclerosis, and atherosclerosis. Arteriosclerosis is a general term describing any hardening (and loss of elasticity) of medium or large arteries (from the Greek Arterio, meaning artery, and sclerosis, meaning hardening); arteriolosclerosis is any hardening (and loss of elasticity) of arterioles (small arteries); atherosclerosis is a hardening of an artery specifically due to an atheromatous plaque. Therefore, atherosclerosis is a form of arteriosclerosis.
Atherosclerosis, though typically asymptomatic for decades, eventually produces two main problems: First, the atheromatous plaques, though long compensated for by artery enlargement (see IMT), eventually lead to plaque ruptures and clots inside the artery lumen over the ruptures. The clots heal and usually shrink but leave behind stenosis (narrowing) of the artery (both locally and in smaller downstream branches), or worse, complete closure, and, therefore, an insufficient blood supply to the tissues and organ it feeds. Second, if the compensating artery enlargement process is excessive, then a net aneurysm results.
These complications of advanced atherosclerosis are chronic, slowly progressive and cumulative. Most commonly, soft plaque suddenly ruptures (see vulnerable plaque), causing the formation of a thrombus that will rapidly slow or stop blood flow, leading to death of the tissues fed by the artery in approximately 5 minutes. This catastrophic event is called an infarction. One of the most common recognized scenarios is called coronary thrombosis of a coronary artery, causing myocardial infarction (a heart attack). Even worse is the same process in an artery to the brain, commonly called stroke. Another common scenario in very advanced disease is claudication from insufficient blood supply to the legs, typically due to a combination of both stenosis and aneurysmal segments narrowed with clots. Since atherosclerosis is a body-wide process, similar events occur also in the arteries to the brain, intestines, kidneys, legs, etc.
Yet, many infarctions involve only very small amounts of tissue and are termed clinically silent, because the person having the infarction does not notice the problem, does not seek medical help or when they do, physicians do not recognize what has happened.
For more information about Atherosclerosis, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with atherosclerosis
Intensive therapy for narrowed arteries linked to fewer heart events
Dec 15, 2009 |
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Intensive medical therapy, including aggressive control of blood pressure and cholesterol levels, for patients with asymptomatic plaque buildup in their carotid arteries (which supply blood to the brain) appears to be associated ...
Low-density lipoprotein receptor reduces damage in Alzheimer's brain
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Dec 09, 2009 |
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The low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) has received a lot of attention because of its connection with coronary heart disease and atherosclerosis, but now it appears as if it may have a beneficial influence in degenerative ...
Severe asymptomatic heart disease may accompany narrowing in leg arteries
Dec 01, 2009 |
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Results of a randomized, controlled clinical trial presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) reveal that one in five patients with narrowing or blockage in arteries that supply ...
Stroke and heart disease trigger revealed in new research
Nov 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have identified the trigger that leads to the arteries becoming damaged in the disease atherosclerosis, which causes heart attacks and strokes, in research published today in the ...
Heart disease found in Egyptian mummies
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Nov 17, 2009 |
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Hardening of the arteries has been detected in Egyptian mummies, some as old as 3,500 years, suggesting that the factors causing heart attack and stroke are not only modern ones; they afflicted ancient people, ...
Researcher offers a greater incentive to eat your greens
Sep 18, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Queensland PhD candidate and nutritionist Christine Houghton is set to investigate whether broccoli could help in the fight against diabetes.
Study examines stroke risk among patients undergoing cardiac surgery
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Sep 14, 2009 |
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Among patients undergoing cardiac surgery, post-operative stroke occurred in approximately 2 percent, was not correlated with significant carotid artery narrowing, but was more common among patients who had combined cardiac ...
Increase in visceral fat during menopause linked with testosterone
Aug 20, 2009 |
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In middle-aged women, visceral fat, more commonly called belly fat, is known to be a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease, but what causes visceral fat to accumulate?
Heart disease patients with previous blockages more likely to die
Aug 03, 2009 |
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Heart disease patients with previous atherosclerosis (fat deposits in the walls of the arteries) are more likely to die in the hospital and less likely to be treated with recommended therapies, researchers report in Circulation: Jo ...
New chemical imaging technique could help in the fight against atherosclerosis, suggests research
Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry
Jul 31, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new chemical imaging technique could one day help in the fight against atherosclerosis, suggests research published in the August 2009 edition of the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.
Scientists identify cholesterol-regulating genes
Jul 07, 2009 |
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Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the University of Heidelberg, Germany, have come a step closer to understanding how cholesterol levels are regulated. In a study published today in the journal ...
Blocking a muscle growth-limiting hormone protects against obesity and atherosclerosis
Jun 11, 2009 |
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Knockout of myostatin, a growth factor that limits muscle growth, can decrease body fat and promote resistance against developing atherosclerosis, or "hardening" of the arteries, according to a new study conducted in mice. ...
Researchers test nanoparticle to treat cardiovascular disease in mice
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Jun 04, 2009 |
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Scientists and engineers at UC Santa Barbara and other researchers have developed a nanoparticle that can attack plaque -- a major cause of cardiovascular disease. The new development is described in a recent ...
Study establishes major new treatment target in diseased arteries
May 10, 2009 |
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Removing a single protein prevents early damage in blood vessels from triggering a later-stage, frequently lethal complication of atherosclerosis, according to research published online today in the journal Nature Medicine. By eli ...
Medication does not appear to reduce progression of atherosclerosis
Medicine & Health / Medications
Mar 17, 2009 |
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Compared to placebo, the drug pactimibe did not effect certain measures of atherosclerosis for patients with familial hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol levels), but these patients did have an increased incidence of cardiovascular ...
