Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis, which is also known as "harding of the arteries", is caused by the presence of excess cholesterol in the blood. When you have excess levels of LDL in your body, cholesterol is being carried out around in the blood instead of being returned to the liver for degradation or recycling. When this happens, excess cholesterol tends to build up on blood vessels and begins to form a sticky, yellowish, thick plaque. This is known as atherosclerosis. This plaque will continue to build up and eventually prevent blood from getting to places it needs due to blockage. Sometimes, the plaque may calcify or part of it may break off and travel to another part of the body, causing the patient to have a stroke.

Unfortunately, atherosclerosis has no symptoms until it is too late. I have seen patients as young as 25 years old who have mild atherosclerosis. so no age is immune to this disease. However, atherosclerosis can be prevented by eating a healthy diet, exercise, and watching your cholesterol levels.