... is Fatty Plaques! Learn more about fatty plaques, and how to prevent your arteries from clogging.
Arteries can develop fatty plaques that can lead to clotting of the heart or brain. Prevention of heart attacks and strokes can be as easy as a once a day statin pill.
Your arteries are not simply tubes that transport blood. There are certain things, such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, or smoking that can worsen fatty build-ups along arteries throughout your body by developing thick plaques. The most dangerous parts about these plaques, is that they are flimsy and can break off causing blood clots in the blood stream in any part of your body!
How do I prevent these blood clots?
Statins are a class of medicine that can stabilize the arteriosclerosis plaques and even slowly remove the buildup. This happens because HDL (a good type of cholesterol that opens your arteries) is increased by statins.
Other ways to increase this good HDL cholesterol may be from drinking wine or beer in moderation, or aerobic exercise, but please ask your doctor before trying any of these methods. Prescription Niacin, a dietary supplement also improves HDL, but the over-the-counter kind may be unsafe for your liver. Aspirin can decrease blood clots from developing but be careful, because some people suffer from stomach ulcers from aspirin.
Do I need a prescription statin?
If you have mostly bad LDL cholesterol (over 100), then you may need a statin prescription especiallly if you have another risk factor:
Men over age 45 / Women over age 55
High blood pressure (Even if controlled with medications)
Smokers (Even if you recently quit)
Family history of heart attack or stroke
Overweight
High total cholesterol (over 200)
Not enough HDL good cholelsterol (under 40)
How do I know if it's working?
You can measure success by measuring your blood level of lipoproteins of cholesterol. These packages of cholesterol may have more to do with genetics than diet, but some people can improve their cholesterol with a a low-fat diet and exercise.