One of the characteristics of human aging is the progressive hardening of the artery wall. This could be considered normal. But in some people, this physiological evolution can turn into a pathological process, whereby the artery progressively narrows to the point of occlusion, with the consequent decrease or cessation of blood flow.
Arteriosclerosis is a generic term that includes various pathological processes, of which the most frequent by far has a very similar name: Atherosclerosis. And usually, both names are used indiscriminately, although the latter is always referred to.
The progressive narrowing of the arteries is a slow, generalized process with no specific cure.
Causes, symptoms and treatment
We cannot speak of a specific cause because the etiology is unclear. It is a degenerative disease, in which it is known that a series of risk factors are involved; of which we highlight smoking, increased fats or cholesterol, blood sugar or diabetes, and high blood pressure or hypertension. It is a generalized disease, and the symptoms will depend on the arterial territory that is affected, which are the following:
On the one hand the arteries of the heart or coronary arteries. Atherosclerosis can produce angina pectoris and myocardial infarction. On the other hand, the arteries leading to the brain, both extra and intracranial. The symptom is cerebral vascular accident or the famous stroke; either mild in the form of a transient ischemic attack or more serious as a cerebral infarction.
And thirdly, the arteries of the legs. Symptomatology can range from intermittent claudication or window dressing disease, to more serious situations such as gangrene.
There is no curative treatment, but a series of important measures must be taken to improve the prognosis: stop smoking, control risk factors such as cholesterol, diabetes and hypertension, and the patient will probably have to take antiplatelet drugs such as aspirin or similar and drugs to reduce fat. The ideal is to prevent, to detect the disease as early as possible and to avoid the first symptoms.