Treatments for Atherosclerosis

Treatments for atherosclerosis range from changing your lifestyle, to medications and then to more aggressive treatments such as angioplasty.

Eating a healthy diet, exercising and of course not smoking are the first changes that can make a significant difference in atherosclerosis. But sometimes medications are recommended as well as dietary and lifestyle changes.

Cholesterol medications lower your LDL (bad cholesterol) and can slow, stop or even reverse the buildup of fatty deposits in your arteries. Boosting your HDL (good cholesterol) may help too. Your doctor has a wide range of cholesterol medications to choose from including drugs known as statins and fibrates.

Anti-platelet medications such as aspirin reduces the likelihood that platelets will clump in narrowed arteries and form a clot which will cause further blockage.

Anti-coagulants such as Heparin or Warfarin also can help thin your blood to prevent clots from forming. Commonly known as blood thinners they have to be severely monitored by a physician.

Blood pressure medications control blood pressure such as beta blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and calcium channel blockers can help slow the progression of atherosclerosis. There are a wide range of hypertensive medications and sometimes you may be on more than one of them or have to go through several to find one that works efficiently for you. Discussing the side effects and any problems you may have after starting blood pressure medication will help your doctor find the one right for you.

There are other medications that your doctor may suggest that will also help control your risk factors for atherosclerosis such as diabetes medications. Sometimes medications to treat symptoms of atherosclerosis such as leg pain during exercise are prescribed.

If your physician thinks that atherosclerosis is too prevalent you may need a more aggressive treatment plan.

If you have severe symptoms or a blockage that threatens muscle or skin tissue survival you may need one of the following procedures.

Angioplasty- This is where your physician inserts a long, thin tube or catheter into the blocked or narrowed part of your artery. A wire with a deflated balloon is then passed through the catheter to the narrowed area and the balloon is inflated. This compresses the deposits against the artery walls. A stent (mesh tube) is left in the artery to help keep the artery open. Angioplasty may also be done with laser technology.

Endarterectomy is where fatty deposits must be surgically removed from the walls of a narrowed artery. When the procedure is done on arteries in the neck (carotid arteries), it is known as a carotid endarterectomy.

Thrombolytic therapy is where an artery is blocked by a blood clot and your doctor inserts a clot dissolving drug into your artery at the point of the clot to break it up.

Bypass surgery is a procedure where the physician creates a graft bypass using a vessel from another part of your body or a tube made of synthetic fabric. This allows blood to flow around the blocked or narrowed artery.

References for this article include: Web MD, Mayo Clinic and American Heart Association