Atherosclerosis

What's atherosclerosis?

Atherosclerosis is a common condition that can affect anyone, particularly if you’re over 65 or have a family history of heart or circulatory diseases. It’s caused by a build-up of fatty material called atheroma (or plaque) in your artery walls (where blood passes from the heart to the rest of the body).

Atheroma builds up as the walls of your arteries harden and narrow until blood can’t pass properly from your heart to the rest of your body. Many people don’t know they have atherosclerosis since atheroma takes time to build up and often doesn’t cause symptoms until it’s serious.

Lifestyle, health conditions and family history all effect whether you’ll get it. Atherosclerosis isn’t reversible but lifestyle choices are important in preventing the risk and improving the symptoms of it.

How can atherosclerosis affect me?

If left untreated, atherosclerosis can potentially lead to serious health problems, like:

• angina- usually a pain or discomfort in your chest that happens when your heart muscle isn’t getting enough blood 
• coronary heart disease - when the main arteries of your heart become narrowed or blocked by fatty material (plaque) within their walls.
• heart attack- if the fatty material breaks down and becomes a blood clot, it can block your artery and cut off the supply of blood to your heart
• stroke - when enough blood can’t get to your brain. If the blood supply is limited for a short time, this can cause a mini-stroke (called a TIA). If the fatty material breaks down and becomes a blood clot, it can block the artery and cause a stroke
• peripheral arterial disease (or PAD) - when enough blood can’t get to your leg muscles. This can cause pain in your calves, hips, buttocks and thighs – usually when you’re walking or exercising.

What are the symptoms of atherosclerosis?

Most people with atherosclerosis don’t know they have it because most of the symptoms don’t show up until one of your arteries is narrowed or blocked. The most common symptoms of atherosclerosis include:

• chest pain 
• confusion, as a result of blood not flowing to your brain 
• difficulty breathing 
• feeling very tired 
• pain in any of your limbs, where there may be a blocked artery 
• weak muscles 

If you have any of these symptoms or think you may have atherosclerosis, please contact your GP.

Am I at risk of getting atherosclerosis?

Since there isn’t a specific reason why arteries become narrowed or blocked by atheroma, anyone is at risk of getting atherosclerosis. However, there are some factors that can increase your chances of getting it, such as:

• a family history of atherosclerosis or other heart problems
• being overweight or obese
• conditions like high cholesterol, diabetes or high blood pressure (which increase your risk of having heart and circulatory diseases)
• drinking too much alcohol (more than the recommend weekly amount of 14 units)
• ethnicity - research has shown that people of some ethnicities (Black Africans, African Caribbean's and South Asians) in the UK are at higher risk of developing high blood pressure or type 2 diabetes. Both of these conditions increase your risk of having heart and circulatory disease
• getting older, especially if you're over 65
• not exercising enough
• smoking and using other tobacco products
• unhealthy diet.

How is atherosclerosis diagnosed?

To find out if you have atherosclerosis, your doctor will ask questions about your lifestyle, family history and may send you for tests. If you can, find out if you have a family history of atherosclerosis or heart disease so your doctor gets a full picture. The tests may include:

• blood tests
• CT scan
• angiogram
• ECG
• exercise ECG
• coronary calcium scoring - a scan of the heart to see how much plaque has built up in the arteries of your heart
• carotid ultrasound – a test that makes pictures of the insides of the two largest arteries in your neck (called the carotid arteries).

Most tests aren’t as scary, painful or complicated as they seem at first. Get prepared and feel better about the tests for atherosclerosis and other conditions on our tests page.

How is atherosclerosis treated?

If you’re diagnosed with atherosclerosis, there aren’t any treatments that can get rid of it. You'll have it for the rest of your life. However, there are medicines and treatments that can slow down its progress, reduce your symptoms and let you live your normal life.

Your doctor will talk you about what treatment you might need, which may include:

• a procedure – if your arteries are seriously narrowed or blocked, coronary bypass surgery or a coronary angioplasty may have to be done
• changes to your lifestyle – like exercising, not smoking and drinking less alcohol to reduce symptoms
• changes to your diet – to reduce the effects of conditions like high cholesterol, high blood pressure or diabetes
• medicines – to reduce high cholesterol, high blood pressure or the risk of blood clots.

Living with atherosclerosis for the rest of your life can be scary and stressful. Although it can be hard, you can reduce any negative feelings you might have by talking to family, friends and asking your GP any questions you may have. Get started with ourconversation tips.

How do I prevent atherosclerosis?

Making positive changes to your lifestyle is one of the best ways of both preventing and improving the symptoms of atherosclerosis. The things that reduce your risk of developing atherosclerosis are the same as for other types of heart and circulatory diseases, like:

• eating healthier foods - use our recipe finder for tasty and heart healthy ideas
• keeping active – which improves your heart health, boosts your energy levels, and helps you sleep better
• keeping to a healthy weight this will help your overall health and prevent extra strain on your heart
• limiting how much alcohol you drink (less than the recommended 14 units per week)
• smoking and using other tobacco products
• taking medications – if prescribed by your doctor to help issues like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.

Making changes to your lifestyle can seem daunting at first, but many people face the same issues you do. That’s why we have pages packed with help, whether it’s about diet, exercise or quitting smoking. Start making changes today. 

Heart Helpline and other support

• Speak to our cardiac nurses by phone, callback, email or online chat on Heart Helpline (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm).
• Sign up to our Heart Matters magazine for online information packed with health and lifestyle advice.