What is Arteriosclerosis?

Causes of Arteriosclerosis

Complementary Advice about Diet

Supplements that will help with this condition

Herbs that will help this condition

More information on dealing with arteriosclerosis

What is Arteriosclerosis?

This condition is where there is a build-up of deposits on the inside of the artery walls. This in turn causes them to narrow and harden making it increasingly more difficult for the blood to travel round the body.

Arteriosclerosis is a vague term that may be used to describe several types of conditions that affect the arteries. (The word arteriosclerosis is also often used in place of atherosclerosis). Arteriosclerosis deposits are usually made up of fatty substances although calcium may also be deposited.

Hardening of the arteries is a very common disease of the major blood vessels with hardening of the arteries leading to heart attacks if the hardening takes place in the arteries that supply blood to the heart.

One of the reasons blood pressure goes up with this condition is because the heart has to pump the blood round the body with greater force due to counteract the problems caused by the narrowing and hardening. It is also possible to develop hardening and narrowing of the arteries if you have high blood pressure and for this reason when blood is forced round the body under high pressure the arteries become weak and strained in certain places.

These weakened areas then become a prime site for calcium and fatty deposits to build up, further narrowing the arteries and forcing an already high blood pressure even higher.

Heart Attacks :

If the heart is starved of oxygen then the result is a heart attack and one of the ways in which the heart can be deprived of oxygen is if deposits in the coronary arteries build up to such a level that an obstruction occurs.

An added danger of deposit build-ups is that a passing blood clot can get stuck on the obstruction, therefore further reducing the flow of oxygenated blood to the heart.

Strokes :

Are when the arteries that carry blood to the brain as opposed to the heart become obstructed.

Click here for information on causes.

Click here for bibliography.