Stroke or heart attack: What really happens?
This video will change your understanding of stroke and heart attack events. They happen in a suddenly accelerated phase of a chronic progressive inflammatory process. Similar to acne, inflammation creates plaque (pimple) that can heal (calcification/scar) or rupture/crack. Plaque doesn’t “break off.” It is the clot/thrombus that interrupts blood flow leading to stroke or heart attack. Watch this video.
There are three phases of arterial health depicted in the video featured in this message:
Normal Artery
Vulnerable/Unstable Homogeneous Plaque
Stable (Fibrous) Heterogeneous Plaque
Healed Calcified Plaque
A normal artery refers to the stage before atherosclerotic plaque forms in the artery wall. This stage is typical of younger individuals. Atherosclerosis is more common with age, but it is not normal “aging.”
Stable calcified plaque is like a scar that forms after an injury. It is the latest and most stable stage of the process. It won’t disappear altogether, but it also won’t cause sudden harm. Calcified and fibrotic connective tissue wall off the plaque from the lumen of the artery where the blood flows. This is like a healed scar from a prior injury, an event that could have but did not happen. The lumen through which blood flows is diminished in size, but the situation is stable. However, it reveals increased risk of forming more plaque in the future because it has done so in the past, especially if the root causes are still active.
Vulnerable/unstable homogeneous new plaque is the real danger. It is actually newly-formed plaque. When plaque forms due to inflammation or injury to the artery wall, there are two potential outcomes: (1) it can heal without causing harm, becoming stable plaque, or (2) it can rupture or erode and trigger formation of a blood clot in the lumen. This blocks blood flow through the artery. That flow interruption kills heart muscle or brain tissue.
Arterial disease is silent, deadly, progressive but preventable and reversible. At the CureCenter, we work with our patients to prevent the formation of new plaque and heal plaque that has already formed. We identify and minimize the common and uncommon root causes with a Personalized CurePlan based on better choices, targeted supplements, safe and effective medications and genetic tests that determine individualized therapy.
Are your arteries healthy? If they are sicker and older than you believe, we can make them healthier and younger again.
Take the first step toward preventing arterial disease, heart attack, and stroke. Request a complimentary Discovery Call with the CureCenter today.