Title:

Atherosclerosis Symptoms, Causes, prevention and Treatment

Word Count:
894
Summary:
Atherosclerosis gives thickening and hardening of the blood vessels leading bloo
d out to the body, and will thus reduce or stop blood flow to important tissue.
Here is a survey of the mechanisms of this lifestyle disease, prevention measure
s and treatments.
Keywords:
atherosclerosis,arteriosclerosis,atheroma,clogged,narrow,blood,vessels,clot,how,
to,prevent,cure,symptoms,causes,prevention,cholesterole,fat,suturated,unsaturate
d,sugar,heart,infarction
Article Body:
By atherosclerosis the inside of the arteries are thickened, hardened and stiffe
ned, causing the space for blood flow to be narrowed or closed. This will decrea
se the oxygen supply to local or distant tissues.
The primary symptom of this is pain, poor organ function and bad general conditi
on. The further consequences are tissue damage, sometimes acute damage because b
y stop of blood flow caused by a sudden blood clot formed in the narrowed areas.

THE MECHANISMS AND CAUSES OF ATHEROSCLEROSIS

The inner walls of the arteries consist of an innermost layer of endothelial cel
ls (surface cells) and under these a layer of smooth muscle cells. The changes b
y atherosclerosis take place under the endothelial cells and in this muscle laye
r. The changes consist of: A certain degree of cell proliferation or tumour, gat
hering of cholesterol and fat. Deposition of calcium salts. Deposition of blood
elements like fibrin.
The deposits are called atherosclerotic plaque or atheroma. Atherosclerosis is o
ne of several types of artery thickening and hardening. A common name for thicke
ning and hardening of arteries is "arteriosclerosis". Often atherosclerosis is a
lso just called arteriosclerosis.
The development of atherosclerosis probably begins by a damage in the endotheliu
m. This damage causes cholesterol and fat to penetrate into the vessel walls and
deposit there. This also induces cells to proliferate. Later also calcium salts
are deposited.
Factors that cause endothelial damage and thus atherosclerosis are:
-High content of cholesterol in the blood.
-High content of blood fat and especially saturated fat.
-Inflammation in the blood vessels. A sign of such inflammation is the presence
of a substance called c-reactive protein.
-High amount of oxidation agents in the blood.
-High blood pressure.
-High content of low density lipoprotein (LDL) in the blood serum, and low conte
nt of high density lipoprotein (HDL) in the blood. Lipoprotein is a combination
of a protein molecule and fat or cholesterol. Lipoproteins carry cholesterol or
fat from place to place.
-Diabetes.
-High age.
-Smoking.
-Men have a somewhat higher chance of getting this condition than women.
-High content of the amino acid homocystein in the blood serum.
Many of these factors are ultimately caused by a bad diet and lack of daily exer
cise.

THE SYMPTOMS AND CONSEQUENCES OF ATHEROSCLEROSIS

Since atherosclerosis can affect all body parts, the symptoms will vary. However
, general symptoms from the affected body parts are:
-Decreased performance, easy to tire out.
-Pain by physical activity, so called anoxic pain.
-By severe impairment of blood flow, tissue damage or sores can occur.
When the heart is affected, the symptoms will be:
-General bad condition.
-Anoxic pain from the heart and surroundings by physical activity, called angina
pectoris.
-Feeling of not getting enough air, or breathing problems.
Atherosclerosis can cause blood clots that close the blood flow. There are sever
al ways this can occur:
-The atherosclerotic plaque can rupture, making a sore in the inner wall of the
vessel. At such a sore blood can coagulate, making a blood clot.
-The atherosclerotic plaque itself can grow to close a blood vessel.
-Blood coagulated at an affected area can tear loose, float with the blood strea
m to another place and prop a blood vessel at the new place.
-A portion of the plaque itself can tear itself loose and clog another blood ves
sel.
When the heart is stricken by a blood clot, heart tissue is suddenly destroyed,
a condition called heart infarction, causing sudden heart failure or death.
When a blood clot strikes the brain, brain tissue is destroyed or impaired, caus
ing paralysis, decreased consciousness, coma or other sudden functional impairme
nts.

THE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF ATHEROSCLEROSIS

Atherosclerosis can be prevented and to some extend be cured by these measures,
of which most are lifestyle adjustments:
-Eating just a little or moderate amount of fat.
-Eating just a moderate amount of sugar.
-The fat eaten should be a blending of different types of unsaturated fat from s
ources like: Olive oil, rape oil, sunflower oil, soy oil, walnut oil and fish. T
hen you will get enough of mono-unsaturated fat, omega-3-unsaturated fat, and om
ega-6-poly-unsaturated fat, but not too much of any of them.
-Eating much fish and just a little red meat.
-Eating a good amount of fruit and vegetables each day.
-Supply of enough vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants.
-Only consuming moderate amount of salt.
-Stop smoking.
-Getting high blood pressure treated if lifestyle measures do not bring blood pr
essure down.
-Daily exercise fitted for one's own condition.
-Eliminate stress in the daily life and at the job.
-Stressing down and getting enough rest.
By high cholesterol levels that do not react properly to lifestyle measures, cho
lesterol lowering medication can be used, such as HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors.
By serious local narrowing of an artery, surgery to clean out or widen the arter
y is sometimes performed. Sometimes the artery is replaced by a graft taken from
another body part or by an artificial vessel. When this is done in the heart, i
t is denoted as bypass surgery.
Alternative treatment to clean out the arteries is an option. There is for examp
le a treatment consisting of using the substance EDTA to carry constituents of p
laque away from the arteries. The molecules of this substance have the ability t
o grip around other molecules, for example cholesterol molecules, and carry them
away. There is however a controversy about the effectiveness of this treatment,
called chelating therapy.