The Latest on Atherosclerosis or Heart Disease

First the good news on how to prevent heart disease. A heart healthy diet, regular exercise and if you are overweight, reduce your weight to the right level. A few comments on diet. Diet is very critical to good heart health. Many doctors recommend that you reduce as much as possible the use of sugar and carbs in your diet. They also recommend that you eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and salads.

What causes atherosclerosis? Researchers say that one of the key factors is inflammation. This process is the same that that causes infected cuts to become swollen, red, hot and painful. Inflammation is behind all phases of the disease, from the creation of plaques to their growth and rupture. When microbial invaders threaten to hurt us, inflammation helps to ward off infection. In the case of atheroscleroisi, the inflammation proves harmful.

The clearest picture of inflammation's role in the onset of atherosclerosisw comes from investigation into low density lipoprotein, also called bad cholesterol.LDL particles, composed of fatty molecules (lipids) and protein, transport cholesterol (another lipid) from their source in the liver and intestines to other organs. Researchers have long known that although the body needes LDL and cholesterol, excessive amounts promote atherosclerosis.

It is now clear that the trouble begins when LDL from the blood collect in the intima, the part of the arterial wall closest to the bloodstream. At reasonable concentrations in the blood, LDLs can pass in and out of the intima, which consists mainly of the endothelial cells that line vessel walls, the underlying extracellular matrix (connective tissue), and a smattering of smooth muscle cells (matrix producers). But in excess, LDLs tend to become stuck in the matrix.

As the lDLs accumulate, their lipids undergo oxidation (similar to the process that rust pipes and spil butter) and their proteins undergo both oxidation and glycation (binding by sugars). Cells in the vessel wall seem to interpret the changes as a danger sign, and they call for reinforcements from the body's defense system. Plaque bulds up inside the walls of the arteries. Plaques tend to push outward and so do not slow the flow of blood. Over time however, the plaques will start to push inward and restrict the flow of blood. About 15 per cent of heart attacks are caused when plaques push inward and stop the flow of blood. About 85 per cent of heart attacks occur suddenly after a plaque's fibeous cap breaks open, prompting a blood clot to develop over the break. The plaques most likely to fracture posses a thinned cap, a large lipid pool and many macrophages, and their vulnerability stems, as in earlier stages of atherosclerosis, from inflammation.

As indicated at the beginning of this article, you want to restrict your use of sugars and carbs. High blood sugar plays in inportant role in promoting heart disease. You need to keep you blood sugar level under 100. Most people with diabetes died from heart disease as their high blood sugar greatly harms their blood vessels.