Atherosclerosis: Summary

00:01 So in summary: • The definition for atherosclerosis is: This is a broad term that's used for artery wall obstruction, vessel tightening due to development of atherosclerotic plaques, which are the result of a number of risk factors that allow injury to the artery and for LDL cholesterol to get in under the artery and to start a whole inflammatory process that basically gets going and just builds on itself. • The diagnosis in the leg is from intermittent claudication using the Edinburgh Questionnaire and ankle–brachial index or ultrasound.

00:40 • Of course, there can also be peripheral vascular disease in the brain, and we're going to talk about that: damage in the… atherosclerosis in the carotid artery that leads to blood clots or pieces of cholesterol going to the brain, causing strokes.

00:51 • Treatment, of course, is lifestyle changes, medication, discontinuation of smoking, and hopefully, not getting to angioplasty or surgery (but in many cases, that's necessary).

01:04 • And with respect to prevention, it is particularly important to maintain the lifestyle changes that we've been talking about throughout this lecture in order to control and prevent the atherosclerotic process.