Other societies face more psychosocial factors that promote poor lifestyle choices and are associated with the higher rates of atherosclerosis in that group. This can support the fact the high numbers of atherosclerosis in Western and urban populations experience due to the stress at work or home and depression.
The high rates of mortality and morbidity by atherosclerosis have slowly minimized due to the more recent developments of medication and surgery. There are medications for moderate atherosclerosis including heparin and T-PA. These are blood thinners or anticoagulant drugs which will work to temporarily minimize clots and increase blood flow rates.
Statins can be prescribed to for lowering cholesterol, mediating lipid production, ultimately
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They are typically recommended to undergo surgery as a medical treatment. One option is Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI), better known as coronary angioplasty. This surgery focuses on opening the blocked or narrowed coronary (heart) arteries. The goal is to improve blood flow to the heart and relieve chest pain. After the procedure, sometimes a small mesh tube called a stent is used to keep the artery open. Another invasive treatment is Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG). Arteries or veins from other areas in your body will be grafted onto the existing heart vessel. The purpose is to redirect blood flow from those blocked arteries to a route that allows blood to flow to the targeted area of the heart more efficiently. This reinforces the “bypass” method and ultimately, prevents chest pains from occurring. In addition, bypass grafting can be applied to the leg arteries. This particular surgery improves blood flow to the leg by using a healthy blood vessel to reroute the blood around the blocked artery in one of the legs. A patient can undergo the last option for treatment, the carotid endarterectomy. This surgery is often used to prevent strokes in the brain. By removing the plaque buildup from the carotid arteries in the neck, there will be improved oxygen rich blood flow to the …show more content…
However, it must be reemphasized that implementing healthy decisions and active lifestyle after these surgeries is the most effective treatment. Surgery of one area of the heart, does not guarantee atherosclerosis is completely treated. Arterial damage can still take place at a location involved with a different vessel. An example is Bill Clinton who had quadruple heart bypass surgery. In September 2004, his heart arteries were reported to be 90 percent blocked. Quadruple refers to the number of vessels that are involved in the obstruction of blood. Thus, he had four vessels that needed grafting, creating new routes for blood to flow around those blocked