Fatty foods, high blood pressure, and obesity. What do these 3 substances have in common? These are possible symptoms that can eventually lead to high cholesterol and many cardiovascular diseases. Cardiovascular disease is Americas leading cause of disability and death than any other illness, more than cancer and accidents combined. One million people die of cardiovascular disease each year-one every 33 seconds. More than 50,000 of these deaths are from heart attack, many occurring in the prime of life: 50 percent of first time attacks are fatal. Twenty to forty percent of middle-aged people have early or advanced coronary heart disease due to atherosclerosis, most without symptoms or knowledge of their condition. In atheroslcerosis cholesterol builds up in pockets or plaque on the inside of blood vessels. In comes from the Greek words athero (meaning gruel) and sclerosis (meaning hardness). It involves deposits of fatty substances, cholesterol, cellular waste products, calcium, and fibrin in the inner lining of an artery.
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Atherosclerosis, which is a progressive progress that's responsible for most heart diseases, is a type of arteriosclerosis or hardening of the arteries. An artery is made up of several layers: an inner lining called the endothelium, and elastic membrane that allows the artery to expand and contract, a layer of smooth muscle, and a layer of connective tissue. Atherosclerosis is a broad term that includes the hardening of inner and middle layers of the artery. It can be caused by normal aging, high blood pressure, and by diseases such as diabetes. Atherosclerosis is a type of arteriosclerosis that affects only the inner lining of an artery. It is characterized by plaque deposits that block the flow of blood. This plaque may partially or totally block the blood's flow through an artery. Two things can happen where plaque occurs are: bleeding into the plaque or formation of a blood clot on the plaque's surface.