It is a disease that affects 80% of people over 65 and is preventable.

One of the big problems with atherosclerosis, like many others, is that “the disease develops silently over many years, meaning it appears before symptoms appear, and it occurs when the obstruction is severe,” explains He. , vascular and interventional radiologist at the Carlos Haya Regional University Hospital (Malaga) and member of the Spanish Society of Vascular and Interventional Radiology (Servei). Thus, Early diagnosis makes a ‘big difference’because “identifying the disease in its early stages allows risk factors to be managed, lifestyle changes to be made, affected vessels to be treated when the obstruction is not yet severe, and, ultimately, serious complications to be prevented.”

The good news is that this can be prevented. How? following some minimal guidelines:

• Eat a balanced diet low in animal fats.
  
• Exercise regularly.
  
• Avoid excess weight.
  
• Control modifiable risk factors such as tobacco, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or high sugar in patients with diabetes.

Treatment of atherosclerosis

The main goal of treatment, on the one hand, is to “reduce the risk of complications, and, on the other hand, prevent the progression of the disease.”” This, Rodríguez Mesa points out, “requires, first of all, lifestyle changes with a switch to a healthy diet, avoiding obesity and a sedentary lifestyle, regular exercise and, of course, quitting smoking.” Moreover, he adds: “using medications to control blood pressureand also for strict glycemic control in diabetics“It also slows disease progression and reduces complications.” Finally, “Statins help control cholesterol levels, which means a reduction in the incidence of cardiovascular events.”

What happens when symptoms appear?

If symptoms of atherosclerosis appear, local treatment of the affected vessels may be required. The treatment, which has now become the “first therapeutic option”, in most cases demonstrates effectiveness “comparable to and even superior” to that of traditional surgery, an expert says. “During arterial puncture You can access the inside of the vessels and “go” to the blocked vessel to restore blood flow in that vessel, using various specific materials and various methods such as angioplasty, implementation stents wave thrombectomy“, explains the expert.

Among the advantages of endovascular treatment of atherosclerosis performed by vascular and interventional radiologists compared with traditional approaches such as open surgery, Rodriguez Mesa notes that These are minimally invasive procedures. with greater accuracy thanks to the use of the latest generation imaging techniques and therefore with a lower risk of complications.

“All this makes the recovery period shorter and less painful, and many interventions can be performed on an outpatient basis. discharge of the patient after a few hours and return to normal life the next day. This also results in shorter hospital stays and therefore lower costs for the national health system,” he concludes.