Heart Diseases

Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology

Arteriosclerosis is defined as the hypertrophy, toughening, and loss of flexibility of the artery walls caused by fatty clots (plaque) and cholesterol develop inside the artery walls, preventing blood from flowing through it in the amount required. This condition causes insufficient blood flow to the heart, central nervous system, kidney, liver, and all organs throughout the body, resulting in several types of cardiovascular disease or, in severe cases, organ damage or death. Age, gender, genetic inheritance, elevated blood pressure, smoking and alcohol use, lack of physical activity, unhealthy lifestyle, adiposity, depression, and other risk factors all contribute to the development of this disease.

Symptoms and signs include:

• sudden weakness
• facial or lower limb numbness
• confusion
• difficulty understanding speech
• Heart attack
• Myocardial Ischemia including chest pain.

Thrombosis: It is a medical condition caused by the development or appearance of a blood clot in a blood vessel. In a deep venous thrombosis or a coronary thrombosis (artery), the vessel could be any vein or artery. The clot is known as a thrombus. It is a very serious medical condition in which one or more clots form within the blood vessels, obstructing blood flow or breaking free and moving to another part of your body. If a moving clot becomes lodged in a vital area, it can lead to fatal conditions such as heart attack and stroke.

Types of Thrombosis
A) Arterial thrombosis: This type of thrombosis occurs in the arteries, which are blood vessels that transport heart pumps blood to the rest of your body. The much more common source of strokes and heart attacks is arterial thrombosis.
B) Veinous thrombosis: This is thrombosis that occurs in blood vessels, which seem to be vessels that carry blood from your body back to your heart. One of most common cause of collapsed lung is venous thrombosis (blood clot in your lung).

Vascular Biology: Vascular biology is the science of the genetics of the constitutive cells of the vascular wall, which encompasses the heart and blood vessels. The blood vessels are made up of arteries that carry blood from the heart to the entire body as well as veins that return blood across all parts of your body to your heart, so they play an important role in blood regulation throughout the body.