How Do Risk Factors Cause Atherosclerosis?
Recent research findings have uncovered a new theory that links risk factors for atherosclerosis with fatty lesion formation and their complications such as heart attacks. When the function of the cells that make up the artery wall is perturbed by risk factors such as high levels of bad cholesterol, high blood pressure, cigarette smoke, or diabetes, it triggers a response similar to the body’s reaction to foreign bodies or germs such as bacteria or viruses. White blood cells, the same cells the body uses to combat infections, accumulate in arteries that have encountered risk factors. These visitors to the artery wall lead to metabolic mayhem that disturbs the normal architecture of the artery and sets the stage for accumulation of atherosclerotic plaques. We used to conceive of atherosclerotic plaques as collections of fat droplets in the artery wall. We now know that this view is highly over-simplified. Much more than a depot of waxy grease, the atherosclerotic plaque teems with infla