Atherosclerosis is a dangerous disease for humans that affects the human circulatory system and its vessels. As it develops, a plaque of cholesterol and other fats forms on the inner walls of veins and blood vessels, which take the form of plaques and gradually close the passage of the blood vessels. As a result of this impact, the walls are seriously compacted, they become less elastic and harder.

Due to severe narrowing of blood vessels, less blood flows to important organs, and if left untreated, the passage in the artery may close completely.

If this pathology is accompanied by a blood clotting disorder, the patient will have a serious risk of thrombosis and ischemic organ damage will occur. To combat the problem, it is important to understand the signs of atherosclerosis itself and treat it with different methods.

Features and types of disease

Atherosclerosis belongs to the category of diseases, the outcome of which is often fatal. Pathology can be recognized immediately after the manifestation of problems arising in the circulatory system. Answering the question of what atherosclerosis is, it can be noted that this is a problem in which the brain, limbs and heart receive little blood, which causes a malfunction in their work.

Important! To prevent such dangerous problems for patients as myocardial infarction, heart disease, the disease must be recognized in a timely manner and the treatment process must begin. Effective preventative actions are equally important.

The types of disease depend on the part of the body that is affected. This may be atherosclerosis of the heart, aortic atherosclerosis and pathology of the renal vessels, brain and limbs.

The pathology occurs in older people; professionals classify the disease as senile. There is no need to relax, relying on this factor, since the disease is becoming more and more rapidly younger every year and affects not quite old people. This is due to certain lifestyle features.

Cholesterol is a special chemical compound or fatty alcohol. Its role in the general synthesis of cellular structure and in the organelle is important, as it takes part in the process of formation and formation of the cell membrane. With its increase in the blood composition, the risk of developing pathologies such as atherosclerosis and various types of dangerous diseases of the heart vessels develops.

It can be completely prevented only by completely abandoning bad and wrong habits.

It is necessary to maintain the total concentration of fatty alcohol in the blood at the same level. A normal amount of this substance has a beneficial effect on digestion and on stabilizing the functioning of the genital organs and the pancreas, which is important for the body. Considering the question of how atherosclerosis occurs and what it is, it can be noted that this is a failure in the production of cholesterol.

Vascular problems or atherosclerosis is a specific systemic disease that affects large blood vessels and major blood lines in the body. For this reason, the symptoms of the problem can be very different and affect different organs. The heart, brain, legs or arms are most often affected.

The signs of the disease are specific and do not always appear very clearly so that the disease can be immediately diagnosed during the initial examination.

Signs of pathology depend on which organ, which part of the body was affected due to its cause. Regardless of the form of atherosclerosis, two main symptomatic periods can be distinguished: preclinical and clinical. In the first case, the process is just beginning to develop, therefore acute and characteristic signs are completely absent.

As the problem develops, the patient begins to have problems with the circulation of blood throughout the body, with the functioning of organs when the arteries and veins narrow by half. General signs of the disease can be classified by type, based on which organ is affected more severely.

Heart

With the development of atherosclerosis, 75% of patients experience pain in the heart area. The pathology affects the main coronary vessels, due to which the heart muscle receives a reduced amount of nutrients and oxygen. The heart strongly senses all changes in the level of nutrition of its important substances and components.

Signs of the disease appear immediately, so it is necessary to diagnose the problem in a timely manner. The main signs of atherosclerosis of the heart include:

1. Pain sensations in the heart of varying intensity. They can be aching, burning, radiating to the scapula area, to the arm;
2. A feeling of pressure on the chest, similar to the presence of a weight on the chest;
3. There is pain when breathing;
4. Various types of respiratory disorders;
5. Attacks of angina pectoris with simultaneous failure in blood pressure.

These are the most common signs of pathology, but there are also less popular symptoms. Less often, the patient feels pain in a certain facial part, in the back, weakness in the limbs, goosebumps and coldness in the limbs, tachycardia, nausea, and periodic confusion. The degree of intensity and frequency of their manifestation directly depend on the general tension of the patient’s body, stress, the use of psychoactive drugs and overeating.

Symptoms in the arms and legs

When there is poor circulation in the arms and legs, which occurs due to the development of atherosclerosis, a person is faced with an unpleasant feeling of cold, pins and needles, and numbness. The skin becomes marbled, pale with a pronounced vascular pattern.

With a more advanced form of a disease such as atherosclerosis, the symptoms become more serious. Due to a serious lack of nutrients in the vessels, tissue degeneration occurs. The patient suffers from pain in the limbs.

When the arteries of the legs are damaged, an unpleasant phenomenon such as intermittent claudication may occur. If pain is localized in the calves, buttocks or thighs, the person begins to limp. If left untreated, tissue necrosis or gangrene may develop, trophic ulcers and persistent swelling may appear.

Problems with brain function

If there is a disruption in brain function that occurs due to a decrease in the quality of blood vessels, patients should observe signs of atherosclerosis, which develop progressively:

Important! If these signs are detected, you must immediately undergo examination at the clinic. Only competent and timely treatment will help, if not get rid of the pathology completely, then improve the overall quality of life.

The basis for the development of the disease is not only age, but lifestyle features. Among the most common reasons are smoking, high cholesterol levels, and high blood pressure. The process of development of atherosclerosis is natural, and it starts on average from 15 years of age. Throughout life, a person can only speed up or slow down its development.

You can prevent the problem by knowing the main causes of atherosclerosis:

To slow down the development of vascular pathology, you need to eat right. The daily menu should include vegetables, cereals, herbs and fatty acids from fresh fish. Preventing atherosclerosis is much easier than treating it, and nutrition and physical activity will help here in the best possible way.

Atherosclerosis belongs to the category of polyetiological diseases. It is based on a serious disturbance in lipid metabolic processes. It is this that is the trigger at the onset of such a dangerous disease.

The development of the problem consists of the following stages:

The level of development and timing of the stages is almost impossible to predict. the last stage of development may occur after several years or after several months. Development factors depend on metabolic characteristics, metabolism, heredity and concomitant diseases.

Diagnostic rules

Doctors easily diagnose atherosclerosis based on the symptoms that the patient tells them about. The disease makes itself felt at the initial stage of development; a professional is required to determine its localization and determine the main focus of the lesion. A simple visual inspection is not enough here; you will have to conduct a full medical examination.

The range of survey activities includes procedures such as:

A well-constructed examination will help clarify the disease, establish the stage of its development and identify its main location. When collecting anamnesis, the doctor notes the patient’s complaints, which may include increased blood pressure, a previous stroke or heart attack, or kidney pathology. This does not give a complete picture, but it allows you to determine the general level of a person’s health and understand in which area to carry out diagnostics.

During a visual examination, attention is drawn to symptoms such as sudden weight loss, hair loss, strong murmurs in the heart and disturbances in its rhythm, increased sweating, serious deformation of the nail plates and the development of edema.

Laboratory tests involve donating blood from a vein to determine the amount of cholesterol. X-ray and angiography are prescribed. This makes it possible to adequately assess the aorta and vein, the volume and number of plaques. An ultrasound examination is performed, which can be used to evaluate the characteristics of blood flow. This is a unique opportunity to determine minor deviations and insufficiency of total blood volume.

Modern methods of treating pathology

If you contact specialists in a timely manner and strictly follow their instructions and recommendations, in 80% of cases you can completely get rid of the pathology and eliminate the causes of its occurrence. High positive results can be achieved by following a diet and incorporating physical activity.

The doctor must prescribe effective medications.

Among the most effective and popular are:

• Statins are aimed at inhibiting the main function of the liver, which is aimed at producing a large amount of cholesterol. At the same time as the drug, agents and medications are prescribed that support the overall effective activity of the heart and the digestive system.
• LCD sequestrants. Completely inhibit the process of bile acid synthesis in the liver. Thanks to this, she has to use up previously accumulated cholesterol much more quickly. This automatically improves digestion and heart function. Drugs of this type are prescribed at the beginning of the development of pathology and as a preventive measure.
• Fibrates. They destroy the bulk of fatty neutral structures or triglycerols. The drugs are effective in the fight against atherosclerosis, but are contraindicated for those who have problems with liver function.
• Nicotine preparations. They have no effect on cholesterol, but act as an antispasmodic and vasoconstrictor. The drugs are used simultaneously with other drugs and are included in the main drug therapy. All this is included in the basic conservative treatment scheme. This also includes special physiotherapy, which is especially effective for those who suffer from atherosclerosis of the legs or arms.

For more advanced forms of pathology, the doctor may prescribe surgical treatment. These can be highly or low-invasive methods. In the first case, bypass surgery and vascular prosthetics are performed.

When bypassing, the affected vessels are sutured to completely healthy ones. This forms a new full-fledged bloodstream, automatically restoring tissue. In the process of prosthetics, modern materials are used, with the help of which it is possible to completely replace a destroyed artery with a new one.

Among the minimally invasive methods, angioplasty can be distinguished. This is a method whose essence is based on inserting a catheter into an artery of the thigh or other part of the body. Under careful camera control, the catheter moves along the bloodstream, gradually reaching the affected area. after a thorough examination, actions are taken to eliminate the pathology or lesion.

Atherosclerosis is a complex and controversial disease that requires the utmost attention. A complete lack of therapeutic therapy will lead to life-threatening consequences and complications.

There will be no problems with the timely detection of pathology, since the symptoms of the pathology are quite pronounced. An experienced doctor is able to quickly diagnose the pathology, determine the local location of the lesion and prescribe the most effective one.

A well-developed treatment regimen and a selected range of medications can quickly eliminate the problem at various stages of its development.

Important! Modern medicine makes it possible to quickly and with minimal losses eliminate all signs of atherosclerosis. Properly selected drug therapy and lifestyle changes are a guarantee of achieving a positive result.

Prevention of atherosclerosis

To prevent the onset of the disease and its development, it is worth changing your usual lifestyle. First of all, you need to completely stop smoking. You need to use all possible methods to regulate your weight and increase your level of physical activity. The diet should contain foods low in cholesterol and salt. The food should contain vegetables and various grains.

Preference should be given to onions and garlic, carrots, eggplants, yoghurts, fish, and vegetable oils. Plants and berries of red and yellowish shades should be consumed in large quantities. This includes rowan, viburnum, hawthorn, and tansy.

To protect against vascular pathologies, it is worth adjusting your body weight, since excess weight leads to atherosclerosis, which occurs against the background of a malfunction in lipid metabolism.

Losing weight and doing some physical activity will reduce the risk of blood clots.

The introduction of physical activity into the diet should be supervised by a specialist who will take into account the patient’s age and general health. You can start with an accessible and safe form, with simple charging, gradually complicating it.

It is important to conduct classes approximately three to four times a week, and each class should last approximately 35-40 minutes. By eliminating the causes of vascular atherosclerosis from life, you can effectively improve your standard of living.