Clogged arteries are often referred to as “hardening of the arteries”, but the proper term is atherosclerosis. It affects larger blood vessels, and is caused by the formation of plaques, or fatty buildups, on the inner surface of the arterial wall. As with a plumbing pipe in a region with hard water, arteries afflicted with atherosclerosis gradually have less and less flow until they are blocked completely, leading to a stroke or heart attack.

There are really three separate items that you must pay attention to within the clogged arteries. The atheroma is what we see in commercials: a flaky, soft, yellow, gunky buildup that fills the space. Beneath and within the atheroma, you are likely to see cholesterol crystals, which are dangerous in a different way. And in older cases, advanced atheroma lesions calcify where they meet the artery, which interferes with the artery’s ability to expand and contract – the true “hardening of the arteries.”

Another danger in a blocked artery is the creation of a blood clot, or thrombus, that can travel to other places in the bloodstream, often completely blocking the blood supply to tissues and leading to an event called an infarction – a term that may sound familiar when thinking about heart attacks.

The scariest part: symptoms are not pronounced, especially early in its development. Most patients develop conditions that lead to clogged arteries in early adolescence, but are asymptomatic. Only when the condition has led to hardening of the arteries or has interfered with circulation to the heart or brain does it become apparent without medical testing. For more than half of American men and nearly half of American women, the first symptom of blocked arteries is a heart attack or sudden cardiac death.

How A Blocked Artery Develops – And How To Reverse It

Doctors aren’t certain why or how clogged arteries first develop, but there are theories that it has to do with inflammatory processes. Somewhere in the artery, leukocytes attack a spot on the wall; scarring and inflammation cause plaques to form over the area, which builds up over time. A high level of LDL may predispose one to developing a blocked artery, which is why the first step doctors take is to lower cholesterol and raise the levels of HDL.

Later, cholesterol is delivered to the site and helps build up the plaque already formed in the arterial wall. HDL cholesterol will help clear LDL cholesterol from the site and eliminate it from the body, but few people consume enough HDL to make this process efficient. Once the plaque has developed, it starts to produce enzymes that enlarge the artery, which can cause an aneurysm, or weak spot in the artery, over time. Even smaller plaques can be dangerous.

Many, many lifestyle factors can predispose you to clogged arteries, including age, being male, being diabetic, smoking, high blood pressure, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, and family members who have also had clogged arteries. Eliminating as many of these factors from your life can reduce your risk of atherosclerosis and related issues significantly. Because good cholesterol can remove cholesterol in plaque buildup and, over time, reduce clogged artery problems, taking omega 3 supplements can also be very beneficial; vitamin B3 can also help with some forms of atherosclerosis. If nothing else works, medications called statins can help somewhat, though they are far from the best way to treat hardening of the arteries.

As a last resort, when arteries are clogged enough to cause serious problems, angioplasty or coronary bypasses may be recommended as a means to quickly open or eliminate blocked arteries.