Atherosclerosis
.... A build up of fatty deposits occur in the blood vessel lining. Cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity are also said to be causative factors. Atherosclerosis starts when white blood cells travel from the bloodstream to the wall of the artery and is made into cells that store fatty material. After a long amount of time the fatty material builds up and hardens in the lining of the artery. Inside the hardened artery a substance containing, cholesterol, smooth muscle cells, and connective tissue cells, builds up and fills the center of the artery. After this, atheromas grow and rupture, then are filled with blood and grow larger, so it takes up for space in the artery which leads to complete clogging of the arteries. Another cause of atherosclerosis is, Apolipoprotein E, a protein on the nineteenth chromosome, removes extra cholesterol frome the blood and carries cholesterol to the receptors which are on the surface of the liver cells. When the protein has defects on it, it can’t hold the cholesterol to the receptors, so cholesterol stays in the blood making the blood cholesterol higher, which leads to atherosclerosis. There are a number of causes to atherosclerosis, but once atherosclerosis entered the body, everything else happens the same way. Many people have atherosclerosis their whole life but never notice it until they are between thirty and sixty years old. Most people don’t notice this because symptoms usually don’t occur until the artery is severely narrowed. The symptoms occur wherever the artery is that is affected. Symptoms could result in problems with the heart, brain, legs, almost anywhere in the body. The first symptom of atherosclerosis, is pain or cramps in the affected artery because blood flow will not be as strong. These symptoms will keep growing gradually as the atheroma keeps narrowing the artery. However, the pain may come on very strong if there is a blood clot to the artery that is affected. Even though the symptoms usually don’t occur until later in your life, it doesn’t mean that you don’t have atherosclerosis. The risk of a person getting atherosclerosis is pretty high. Many people in the United States end up with atherosclerosis. The risk of developing atherosclerosis increases with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cigarette smoking, diabetes, obesity, and a lack of exercise. Also, having a close relative that developed atherosclerosis at a...