The blood vessels that the human body fears most are blocked! Many cerebral infarctions and strokes are related to them! Teach you 4 ways to improve carotid artery plaques

Carotid artery, the blood vessel that the human body is most afraid of being blocked

Our blood vessels are like water pipes

The longer you use

The more garbage is deposited

Over time, blood vessels develop plaques.

If you have high blood pressure, high blood lipids, or high blood sugar

And not paying attention to lifestyle and eating habits

Plaques may grow larger

Like a "time bomb" lurking in the body

The carotid artery is called the "window" for monitoring blood vessels throughout the body . Let's first look at where the carotid artery is.

If you touch the sides of your neck with your hands, you can feel two blood vessels "beating" vigorously. These two blood vessels are the carotid arteries, through which all the blood in the body flows.

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Carotid artery plaque is a focal lesion structure under the arterial intima. Once it appears, it may indicate that blood vessels throughout the body are gradually hardening, and the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases will also increase .

A study published in a Lancet journal evaluated the prevalence, number of patients and risk factors of carotid atherosclerosis in people from 21 countries and regions around the world.

The results showed that nearly 2 billion people worldwide had carotid atherosclerosis in 2020. Among people over 40 years old in China, the detection rate of carotid plaques exceeded 40% .

Risk factors for carotid artery plaques include uncontrollable risk factors such as age, gender, race, and genetic factors .

As well as controllable risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia .

In the physical examination reports of some middle-aged and elderly people, it is easy to see words such as "carotid artery plaque formation" and "carotid intima-media thickening".

So, if a physical examination reveals carotid artery plaques, is it necessary to take medication to treat it?

In fact, not all carotid artery plaques require medication .

According to the "Chinese Consensus on Diagnosis and Treatment of Head and Neck Atherosclerosis 2017", doctors need to consider the overall cardiovascular risk before deciding whether to use drug treatment for the patient.

However, once carotid artery plaques are detected, it is still recommended that everyone adjust their lifestyle, minimize bad habits, and control risk factors for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, such as controlling high blood pressure, diabetes, dyslipidemia, quitting smoking and limiting alcohol consumption.

By changing your lifestyle, adjusting your diet, and taking appropriate medication under the guidance of a doctor, some carotid artery plaques can be reversed, shrunk, or even disappear.

1

Lifestyle interventions

Combine aerobic and resistance exercise, at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity activity, or at least 75 minutes per week of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, or an equal combination of the two intensity activities;

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In addition, there are also low-salt and low-fat diets, weight control, smoking cessation and alcohol restriction, and maintaining mental health.

Image source: Photo Network

2

Controlling risk factors

Actively control risk factors such as hypertension and diabetes:

• In general, the blood pressure of hypertensive patients should be reduced to below 140/90 mmHg; for those who can tolerate and some high-risk patients, the blood pressure can be further reduced to below 130/80 mmHg; for patients over 80 years old, the blood pressure should be controlled below 150/80 mmHg.

• The HbA1c target for most patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes is < 7.0%; the blood sugar standard should be appropriately relaxed for the elderly and frail.

• Control blood lipids.

3

Drug treatment

Statins:

Statins reduce cholesterol synthesis and have anti-inflammatory effects that are independent of lowering cholesterol levels.

Antiplatelet drugs:

For example, enteric-coated aspirin tablets have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, endothelial cell protection, smooth muscle proliferation inhibition, plaque stabilization, and anti-platelet aggregation effects.

Attention! Drug treatment must be carried out under the guidance of a professional physician.

4

Surgery

For patients who have recently suffered a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or an ischemic stroke within 6 months and have moderate to severe stenosis of the ipsilateral extracranial carotid artery, carotid endarterectomy (CEA) or carotid artery stenting (CAS) is recommended. Surgical treatment is not recommended for mild stenosis.

If you don’t want to get plaques, keep the following in mind

Maintain a healthy lifestyle:

Proper diet, smoking cessation and alcohol restriction

Regular exercise and good sleep

Control weight, blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood lipids

Regular physical examinations for high-risk groups to detect the disease early

Statement: This article is a medical-related educational popular science article. It does not involve specific treatment methods or medical behaviors and cannot replace hospital visits.

Experts who reviewed this article

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