Atherosclerosis Assignment 2022

Arthrosclerosis 1
ATHEROSCLEROSIS AND THE CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM
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Atherosclerosis | 2
Atherosclerosis is a condition where blood vessels carrying nutrients and oxygen to
other body parts from the heart build up with plaque, causing them to stiffen and thicken. The
plaque is composed of fats, cholesterol, calcium, and other substances being carried by the
blood. The accumulation of the plaque leads to narrowing of the arteries limiting the flow of
oxygenated blood around the body. The plaque creates bumps on the endothelium and as
atherosclerosis advances, the bumps increase in size and can eventually create blockages or
rapture of the plaque itself. Upon rapture of the plaque, clots begin to form in the blood
vessels which can completely block blood flow (Feinberg, 2016).
Symptoms of atherosclerosis develop slowly and are hardly visible or felt until an
artery is completely affected and can hardly supply enough blood to organs and tissues.
Symptoms also vary depending on which arteries have been affected. Chest pains and angina
suggest build up in heart arteries, plaque in the vessels leading to the brain causes slurred
speech, numbness in limbs and drooping facial muscles among others, build up in the arteries
in limbs causes claudication while build up in arteries leading to the kidney lead to high
blood pressure or kidney failure (Spanos, 2018).
Several changes occur in the cardiovascular system with an advance in age. The
arteries stiffen and thicken due to calcium deposits and loss of elasticity in the medial layer
causing a rise in systolic blood pressure and a decline in diastolic blood pressure. These
changes begin to take place at around 30-40 years leading to “unsuccessful” aging where risk
factors of developing cardiovascular diseases increase with increase in age. Factors such as
smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol at the age of 30-40 years map out the
cardiovascular health in males as their ages progress. (Hoskins, 2017).
Smoking leads to both immediate and long-term increase in blood pressure and heart
rate, reduces blood flow from the heart hence reducing amount of oxygen flow to body