What is the symptoms of atherosclerosis?

What is the symptoms of atherosclerosis?

As arteriosclerosis progresses, clogged arteries can trigger a heart attack or stroke, with the following symptoms:

• Chest pain or pressure (angina)
• Sudden arm or leg weakness or numbness.
• Slurred speech or difficulty speaking.
• Brief loss of vision in one eye.
• Drooping facial muscles.
• Pain when walking.
• High blood pressure.

What is the main cause of arteriosclerosis?

Atherosclerosis is thickening or hardening of the arteries caused by a buildup of plaque in the inner lining of an artery. Risk factors may include high cholesterol and triglyceride levels, high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, obesity, physical activity, and eating saturated fats.

What happens when you have hardening of the arteries?

Atherosclerosis is a disease that occurs when plaque builds up inside arteries. The arteries get hard and narrow, which can restrict blood flow and lead to blood clots, heart attack or stroke. Atherosclerosis may begin in childhood, and it gets worse over time.

What are the symptoms of hardening of the arteries in the legs?

Symptoms

• Painful cramping in one or both of your hips, thighs or calf muscles after certain activities, such as walking or climbing stairs.
• Leg numbness or weakness.
• Coldness in your lower leg or foot, especially when compared with the other side.
• Sores on your toes, feet or legs that won’t heal.

How do you check for hardening of the arteries?

Heart scan (coronary calcium scan)

1. Blood tests. Your doctor will order blood tests to check your blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
2. Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG).
3. Exercise stress test.
4. Echocardiogram.
5. Doppler ultrasound.
6. Ankle-brachial index (ABI).
7. Cardiac catheterization and angiogram.
8. Coronary calcium scan.

How long can you live with hardening of the arteries?

The outcome of atherosclerosis is variable. At one end of the spectrum, many people with the critical limitation of blood flow to vital organs, like the heart and brain, survive for many years.

What is the best treatment for hardening of the arteries?

Statins and other cholesterol medications. Aggressively lowering your low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol — the bad cholesterol — can slow, stop or even reverse the buildup of fatty deposits in your arteries. Statins are commonly prescribed to lower cholesterol, improve artery health and prevent atherosclerosis.

Does vitamin D harden arteries?

Vitamin D might help arterial health by blocking a hormone system that increases constriction of blood vessels, the researchers said. It also helps reduce inflammation, which has been linked to hardened arteries. Dong expects that some whites also would benefit from vitamin D supplementation.

How do you treat hardening of arteries?

When hardening of the arteries is severe, other treatment may be necessary. Angioplasty includes the placement of a thin balloon in the artery. When the balloon is blown up in the body, it increases the size of the artery, allowing for better blood flow. Blood flow may also be improved with bypass surgery.

Can you feel hardening of arteries?

No, you can not! Hardening of the arteries occurs on the inside of the arteries and only certain testing will show that in the arteries. It isn’t something you can feel or even know it is there unless a doctor tests and tells you about it.

What condition causes hardening and narrowing of arteries?

Renal artery stenosis is a narrowing of arteries that carry blood to one or both of the kidneys. Most often seen in older people with atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), renal artery stenosis can worsen over time and often leads to hypertension (high blood pressure) and kidney damage.

Why is hardening on the arteries bad?

Risk factors. Hardening of the arteries occurs over time. Besides aging, factors that increase the risk of atherosclerosis include: High blood pressure. High cholesterol. Diabetes. Obesity. Smoking and other tobacco use.