Atherosclerosis -How Heart Disease Begins
Atherosclerosis is the beginning of cardiovascular disease. And although cardiovascular disease technically refers to any disease affecting any part of the heart or blood vessels, most of the time it is generally used to refer to diseases of the arteries. According to Wikipedia heart disease kills more Americans than cancer every year. But heart disease is the end result of artery disease. What causes atherosclerosis?I'm sure a doctoral dissertation could be written on that subject, but most of you probably wouldn't want to read it.Researchers do agree, however, that cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure among others, are the result of decades of atherosclerosis. researchers suspect the first step in the disease progression is caused by a small crack or break in the inner lining of an artery. They don't really know what causes these cracks or breaks, but they do know that inflammation in the body is somehow connected to the process. The body immediately works to fix that injury by forming what we might call an inner "scab" at the point of injury. Medical researchers refer to this as "plaque". It is made up of several different things like cholesterol and other fatty acids that circulate in the bloodstream. If the body is unable to completely heal the injury to the artery, over time it continues to add layers of matter to the plaque. Two further complications of this process cause the cardiovascular diseases we're most familiar with, heart attack and stroke. It is possible that over time the buildup of plaque in an artery becomes so great that the artery is completely closed off. Doctors or researchers call it "occlusion". If this happens, the tissue on the other side of the artery can't get nutrients and begins to die. Another cause is when the artery isn't completely closed off, but a piece of plaque breaks off and is carried by the blood stream to some smaller vessel where it does cause a blockage, resulting in the same problems.
What are the symptoms?This is probably one of the most difficult problems of atherosclerosis. Usually there are no symptoms, or they are very minor symptoms until the disease process causes a stroke or heart attack. There are certain conditions that show doctors you are at risk for cardiovascular events, but they aren't truly symptoms. In addition, none of them are fool proof indicators of a problem. These include: What can You Do To Stop or Reverse the Process?Most doctors agree that a healthy diet, regular exercise, and refusing to smoke will help, but if you truly want to preserve your arterial health or regain it, supplements can play an important role.For more detailed information, please click here to read about cardiovascular fitness and the supplements that will help ensure it. Young People Are at Risk!One of the most disturbing things I learned from my research is that atherosclerosis doesn't begin in middle age or later in life.Instead researchers have discovered that the small cracks and breaks that start the process were present in all studied subjects between the ages of fifteen and nineteen. So if you are young and healthy, don't think that means you don't need to be concerned about your arterial health. These results demonstrate that atherosclerosis is a disease everyone needs to take steps to prevent. Return from Atherosclerosis to Cardiovascular Fitness
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