What can be done to prevent and deal with atherosclerosis?

For non-medical people, I wonder if you have the feeling that "atherosclerosis" has been repeatedly mentioned in recent years. This is because, with the continuous improvement of social development and economic level, people's high-calorie foods such as high sugar, high protein, and high fat are increasing, and after middle age, people's digestive function starts to decline and exercise decreases, so the diseases caused by atherosclerosis are increasing. Therefore, atherosclerosis is a chronic and progressive disease. Today I will make a simple scientific explanation for you.

What is atherosclerosis?

Atherosclerosis is the most common and important of a group of vascular diseases called "arteriosclerosis". The common features of atherosclerosis are thickening, hardening, loss of elasticity, and narrowing of the lumen of the artery (commonly understood as an aging water pipe). Atherosclerosis is characterized by a combination of lesions starting from the intima (an important part of the vascular structure), including local accumulation of lipids and complex sugars, fibrous tissue hyperplasia, and calcium deposits. There is also progressive degeneration of the middle layer of the artery, and secondary lesions such as intraplaque hemorrhage, plaque rupture, and local thrombosis.

The above-mentioned is a basic concept, but with the rapid development of medicine, researchers have embarked on an in-depth microscopic study. In other words, modern cellular and molecular biology techniques have revealed that atherosclerotic lesions are characterized by macrophage migration and smooth muscle cell proliferation; the formation of a large number of connective tissue matrices such as collagen fibers, elastic fibers, and proteoglycans; and the accumulation of intracellular and extracellular lipids. Because of the "yellow atheromatous" appearance of lipid accumulation in the arterial intima, it is called atherosclerosis.

Introduction of high-risk groups for atherosclerosis

According to epidemiological surveys, atherosclerosis is most common in middle-aged and elderly people over the age of 40. It progresses faster after the age of 49, but please note that in some autopsies of young adults and even children, early atherosclerotic lesions have been found in their arteries, suggesting that the lesions have already started at this time. And the incidence is relatively low in men compared to women, but the incidence will start to increase after menopause. So from this, we can see that age and gender belong to the unchangeable risk factors of atherosclerosis, just like a car, which will get worse with the increase of years and kilometers, various wear and tear of the vehicle, etc.

● Secondly, there are several high-risk groups that I need to emphasize with you. One of them is hyperlipidemia patients. The increase of total cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL cholesterol and the decrease of HDL cholesterol in the blood of this group of patients are the risk factors for starting the disease. The damage to the body like elevated lipids is insidious, gradual, progressive, and systemic. Its direct damage is to accelerate systemic atherosclerosis. The second is hypertensive patients, according to relevant data, 60% to 70% of patients with coronary atherosclerosis have hypertension, and both systolic and diastolic blood pressure increase, which is closely associated with the disease.

Most diabetic patients often combine hypertension and hyperlipidemia, which greatly increases the chances of our vascular disease, like the incidence of atherosclerosis in diabetic patients is about 2 times higher than in normal people, and patients suffering from hyperlipidemia can promote abnormal glucose tolerance in the body, which is another important cause of the increased prevalence of diabetes; the fourth is addicted to alcohol and tobacco, because Smokers have 2-6 times more atherosclerosis than nonsmokers, and if they smoke about 20 cigarettes a day, their total serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels will be significantly higher and their HDL levels will be significantly lower. Moreover, long-term, excessive alcohol consumption not only damages liver function but also leads to an increase in total cholesterol and triglycerides in the body, which in turn causes systemic atherosclerosis.

Specific manifestations of atherosclerosis

If aortic atherosclerosis is present, most people do not have specific symptoms at this stage. However, if there is extensive atherosclerosis in the aorta, there may be signs of reduced aortic elasticity, such as increased systolic blood pressure, which is typical. If an X-ray is performed, the aortic node may be seen to bulge to the left, and sometimes a lamellar or arcuate shadow of calcium deposits may be seen. To say that the most important consequence of aortic atherosclerosis, I am afraid to count the "aortic aneurysm", in the clinical occurrence of the abdominal aorta below the opening of the renal artery is the most common, followed by the aortic arch and descending aorta, pay attention, no matter where you are, once the aortic aneurysm rupture, can be rapidly fatal, exaggerated is the former If you have an aortic aneurysm, it can be fatal very quickly.

If coronary atherosclerosis occurs like coronary atherosclerotic heart disease is the most common type of organ lesion caused by atherosclerosis. The narrowing or blockage of blood vessels after coronary artery atherosclerosis leads to myocardial ischemia and hypoxia, causing frequent angina attacks. Moreover, nitroglycerin is not relieved and even triggers acute myocardial infarction. The cause is mainly due to coronary artery stenosis. It may also be caused by the endothelial dysfunction on the surface of the coronary artery after the rupture of atheromatous plaque, so that the blood vessels cannot be fully dilated, resulting in vortex flow and blood stagnation at the lesion site, which promotes thrombus formation. This eventually leads to coronary artery blockage causing angina pectoris and myocardial infarction, etc.

If cerebral atherosclerosis occurs, it can cause symptoms such as vertigo, headache, and syncope in the case of cerebral ischemia, and cerebrovascular accidents (such as ischemic stroke) in the case of cerebral artery thrombosis or embolism. Clinical symptoms may include headache, vertigo, vomiting, loss of consciousness, limb paralysis, hemianopia, or aphasia. When brain atrophy can cause dementia, there may be psychopathy, action disorder, intellectual and memory loss to complete personality perversion, etc.

If atherosclerosis of the renal arteries occurs, it may cause intractable hypertension. If renal artery thrombosis occurs, it can cause pain in the kidney area, urinary shutdown, and fever. Like long-term renal ischemia can lead to renal atrophy will develop into renal failure, and if it becomes end-stage renal disease, it also depends on dialysis treatment. Like mesenteric atherosclerosis, it may cause symptoms such as indigestion, constipation, and abdominal pain. When thrombosis occurs, there is severe abdominal pain, abdominal distention, and fever. When the intestinal wall is necrotic, it can cause symptoms such as blood in the stool, paralytic intestinal obstruction, and shock.

If atherosclerosis of the extremities is triggered, it is mostly seen in the "lower extremity arteries", which cause coldness, numbness, and typical intermittent claudication in the lower extremities due to impaired blood supply. In other words, local muscle numbness, pain or even spasm occurs when walking, which may disappear after resting and will appear again when walking again; in severe cases, there is also continuous pain, and the arteries of the lower limbs, especially the dorsal pedal artery, are weakened or disappear, and gangrene may also occur when the arterial lumen is completely occluded.

As ordinary people, what should we do to prevent and deal with atherosclerosis?

I have talked about various high-risk factors above, but in fact, a very important point in prevention and treatment is to make targeted responses to these high-risk factors and to start making dietary adjustments and improving lifestyles. For example, restrict high-fat foods and choose low-fat foods such as vegetables, soy products, lean meat, seafood, etc. Especially, we should consume more vegetables containing more fiber, and strictly prohibit overeating and excessive consumption of foods containing high saturated fatty acids and cholesterol such as greasy and animal offal.

The daily salt intake should be limited to 5g because too much salt can cause water and sodium retention, which will increase the burden on the heart and kidneys and lead to a higher incidence of cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension and coronary heart disease. Obese people, must reduce their weight, keep their BMI (body mass index) below 24, and pay attention to strengthening activities and exercise, because exercise can normalize the contraction of the cardiovascular system and improve the function of each system, thus effectively reducing blood viscosity and delaying the progressive aggravation of atherosclerosis. The combination of the above points is an effective measure to prevent and treat atherosclerosis and various diseases caused by atherosclerosis, moreover, it is the best choice for possible reversal of atherosclerosis.