Atherosclerosis

	Main Article	Discussion	Related Articles  [?]	Bibliography  [?]	External Links  [?]	Citable Version  [?]
	This editable Main Article is under development and subject to a disclaimer. [edit intro]

Atherosclerosis is defined as "thickening and loss of elasticity of the walls of medium and large muscular arteries with lesions in the innermost layer of the artery ( arterial intima). This disease process of atherogenesis includes the retention of cholesterol-rich lipoproteins and their binding to proteoglycans in the arterial intima, generation of proinflammatory molecules that recruit macrophages to the subendothelial space, formation of foam cells, and eventual calcification of the arterial wall. these arterial plaques (atheromas) contain carbohydrates; blood; and calcium."^[1]

Pathophysiology[edit]

Inflammation[edit]

Epidemiologic studies suggest the role of inflammation as atherosclerotic events are more common after recent infections.^[2] Atherosclerosis may be associated with periodontal disease.^[3] Inflammation may be measured by the c-reactive protein.

Complications[edit]

Common complications include coronary heart disease (including myocardial infarction and angina) and cerebrovascular disease (including and stroke and transient ischemic attack).

References[edit]