Arteriosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is a disease that leads to hardening and weakening of closing blood vessels. It occurs due to a deposit of fat in these vessels.
The disease can affect any blood vessel, with the most frequent: the aorta (main vessel of the human body), coronary arteries (those that supply the heart), cerebral arteries (those supplying the brain) and peripheral arteries (those that supply arms and legs).
Atherosclerosis is characterized by the lack of flexibility of the arteries (large caliber veins that carry blood from the heart to the organs) resulting from the thickening and hardening of the walls in certain areas of the body. It is more common in men and the elderly.
It is pathologically classified into 3 types: focal calcifying atherosclerosis (Monkberg sclerosis), arteriosclerosis and atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis is the most common reaches arteries of large and medium caliber, triggered by the accumulation of fat, calcium and other substances in the inner walls of the arteries. The area where accumulation is called plaque. This reduces the caliber of the artery causing decrease in the amount of blood that can pass and consequent increased demand on the heart to pump. This effort leads to systolic hypertension.

The inner surface is smooth artery. With atherosclerosis becomes irregular, which constitutes an obstacle to movement and facilitates the formation of blood clots (thrombi) in place of all or part clogging plate artery preventing or reducing the passage of blood.

The thrombi formed on the plate and become loose in the brain causing cerebral thrombosis or an embolism, if the heart causing a heart attack but if a limb (leg) the patient limping (lame). If the obstruction is total leg, the blood does not pass and causes gangrene. The severity of the disease and therefore depend on where occurred.
Prevention and Treatment
To prevent atherosclerosis, should be eliminated controllable risk factors: high blood levels of cholesterol, hypertension, smoking, obesity and lack of exercise. Therefore, depending on risk factors particular to a subject, the prevention can consist in reducing cholesterol level, in blood pressure reduction in smoking cessation, weight loss and at the beginning of an exercise program. Fortunately, the institution of measures to achieve some of these goals just helping others achieve.
For example, the beginning of an exercise program helps the individual to lose weight, which in turn helps to reduce the cholesterol level and blood pressure. Stopping smoking also helps lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure. For individuals who already have an elevated risk of heart disease, smoking is particularly dangerous, because smoking decreases the level of good cholesterol (cholesterol bound to high density lipoprotein or HDL-cholesterol) and increases the level of bad cholesterol (cholesterol bound the low-density lipoprotein or LDL-cholesterol).
Smoking also increases the level of carbon monoxide in the blood, which increases the risk of injury of the coating from the arterial wall and smoke constricts arteries already narrowed by atherosclerosis, further compromising the volume of blood that reaches the tissues. Furthermore, smoking increases the tendency of blood to clot and thereby increase the risk of peripheral arterial disease, coronary artery disease, stroke and obstruction of an arterial graft after surgery. The risk of coronary artery disease in smokers is directly related to the number of cigarettes smoked nightly individuals who stop smoking have a 50% reduction in risk compared to those who continue to do so regardless of the time period they smoked . Smoking cessation also reduces the risk of death after CABG (bypass) or after a myocardial infarction. In addition, smoking cessation decreases the incidence of disease and risk of death in individuals with atherosclerosis in arteries other than those supplying the heart and cérebro.Em summary, the best treatment for atherosclerosis is prevention. When atherosclerosis becomes severe enough to cause complications, the physician should treat complications - angina, myocardial infarction, cardiac arrhythmias, heart failure, kidney failure, stroke or blockage of peripheral arteries.