Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsCausesHealth EffectsAffected ArteriesTreatment
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Causes
Health Effects
Affected Arteries
Treatment
Atherosclerosisis a chronic, progressive disease in which fatty deposits, calledplaque, build up in the walls ofarteries.
This article discusses the causes, effects, and treatment of atherosclerosis.
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What Is the Main Cause of Atherosclerosis?
The fundamental underlying cause of atherosclerosis has not been fully established.
However, many factors that contribute to atherosclerosis have been identified, including:
In Western cultures, arteries commonly show early changes of atherosclerosis even in childhood and adolescence. Atherosclerosis begins as a gradual, progressive disease that commonly will have develops over decades before it ever begins to produce symptoms.
Health Effects of Atherosclerosis
Third, plaques can weaken the wall of the artery causing a ballooning out of the artery to form what is called ananeurysm.The rupturing of an aneurysm often produces severe internal bleeding. A rupturedaortic aneurysmis an example of such an event.
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The arteries atherosclerosis commonly affects include:
In the United States, atherosclerosis causes more death and disability than any other disease.Plaque buildup shortens life expectancy, especially for people who have complications. For example, a heart attack takes away more than 16 years of life on average. People with heart failure lose an average of nearly 10 years.
How Is Atherosclerosis Treated?
Treatment for atherosclerosis tends to be difficult, expensive, invasive, and/or risky because healthcare providers are treating the results of atherosclerosis—heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, peripheral artery disease, and more.
By far, the best “treatment” for atherosclerosis is to do everything you can to prevent it from occurring in the first place. If it is already present, the next best “treatment” is to take every available measure to keep it from progressing.
These steps include:
Other treatments for atherosclerosis may include:
How Atherosclerosis vs. Arteriosclerosis Affects Arteries
Summary
9 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
American Heart Association.Atherosclerosis.
Org E, Mehrabian M, Lusis AJ.Unraveling the environmental and genetic interactions in atherosclerosis: Central role of the gut microbiota.Atherosclerosis. 2015;241(2):387–399. doi:10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2015.05.035
Kobiyama K, Ley K.Atherosclerosis.Circ Res. 2018;123(10):1118–1120. doi:10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.118.313816
Shao BZ, Han BZ, Zeng YX, Su DF, Liu C.The roles of macrophage autophagy in atherosclerosis.Acta Pharmacol Sin. 2016;37(2):150–156. doi:10.1038/aps.2015.87
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.What is atherosclerosis?
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.Living with atherosclerosis.
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Atherosclerosis.
Strong, JP, Malcom, GT, McMahan, CA, et al.Prevalence and extent of atherosclerosis in adolescents and young adults. Implications for prevention from the pathobiological determinants of atherosclerosis in youth study.JAMA.1999;281:727. doi:10.1001/jama.281.8.727
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