| Hardening and narrowing is a common condition | | | | these lines according to the Center for Disease |
| affecting millions of Americans. Perhaps you are | | | | Control is that almost half of heart attack victims |
| one of them? And even if you aren't, there is a | | | | fail to make it to the hospital before dying. |
| good chance that you will be impacted, at least to | | | | But as the grim reaper of hardening and |
| some degree, at some point in your life. In this | | | | narrowing of the arteries comes closer |
| article delving into hardening and narrowing of the | | | | symptoms often will start to appear relatively |
| arteries we will briefly walk through some of the | | | | often and become quite noticeable. The most |
| nuances of this condition, ultimately arriving at the | | | | common of these are chest pain, shortness of |
| a number of the most often mentioned causes. | | | | breath, sweating, anxiety, and fluid accumulation |
| Hardening and narrowing of the arties is more | | | | around the ankles and/or in the lungs (edema). |
| commonly known as arthrosclerosis, a condition | | | | If the carotid or vertebral arteries supplying the |
| which the arteries carrying blood from the heart | | | | brain has begun to narrow a person may notice |
| to other parts of the body becomes narrowed | | | | speech problems, weakness, difficulty swallowing, |
| due to plaque deposits. As an artery, or arteries, | | | | blindness, and in advanced cases partial paralysis. |
| slowly start to close pressure is put on the heart | | | | Does cholesterol play a role in hardening and |
| to pump harder and faster to accomplish the | | | | narrowing of the arteries? |
| same amount of work. Despite the body's best | | | | There are a number of different factors that play |
| effort oxygen and blood supply will slowly start to | | | | a role in hardening and narrowing of the arteries |
| dwindle leaving such areas as the eyes, brain, | | | | with cholesterol being one the most important. |
| stomach, kidneys, and legs with a shortage of | | | | The reason is cholesterol is the primary building |
| blood and oxygen. Additional pressure on the | | | | block for artery plaque. For this reason the |
| heart combined with limited blood and oxygen | | | | American Heart Association warns that a diet |
| flow to important areas of the body opens the | | | | consisting of more than 10 percent cholesterol |
| door for myriad of symptoms, conditions, and | | | | laden saturated fat may put a person at risk, with |
| diseases including heart attack and stroke. | | | | a diet consisting of more than 30 percent total |
| According to American Heart Association 75% of | | | | fat also presenting risks to heart and artery |
| heart attack deaths are linked to hardening and | | | | health. Warnings such as these have lead many |
| narrowing of the arteries. | | | | people to seek out help for controlling dangerous |
| What about symptoms? | | | | high cholesterol through either prescription |
| There is a very good chance that in its earliest | | | | medications (statins) or natural cholesterol |
| stages atherosclerosis will produce no symptoms | | | | reduction supplements. |
| at all. And if a few do occur they will be attributed | | | | Other factors that have been shown to |
| to the aging process or working too many hours. | | | | contribute to hardening and narrowing of the |
| This is one of the real dangers of the disease, | | | | arteries are inactivity, obesity, cigarette smoking, |
| putting people silently on the road to immanent | | | | high blood pressure, diabetes, genetics, age, and |
| disaster silently long before a serious heart attack | | | | race. |
| or stroke occurs. And one interesting fact along | | | | |