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:

1. Normal Artery

2. Vulnerable/Unstable Homogeneous Plaque

3. Stable (Fibrous) Heterogeneous Plaque

4. 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 Zoom Call with the CureCenter today.

What is atherosclerosis?

Atherosclerosis is injury and inflammation of the artery wall. Healthy arteries are important because they carry oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the entire body’s tissue and organs. A more accurate description of the most dangerous stage of disease would be “atheritis” or “arteritis” meaning inflammation of the arteries. “Sclerosis” or hardening/calcification is a more benign later healed benign stage of the disease.

Acne is a relevant analogy most of us know. Inflammation in the skin (artery wall) creates pimples/plaque (in areas where turbulence adds mechanical shearing forces) that are prone to rupture (homogeneous and heterogeneous plaque) when new. The preferred path is to heal and leave a scar. When plaque is becoming calcified, it is healing. Rising coronary calcium score is a good, not bad, trend if you are on a healing program.

Atherosclerosis is often called “hardening of the arteries” due to a buildup of calcium deposits in plaque that forms in the arteries. However, calcium presence is actually a sign of healing and increases over time with new plaque development (bad) and current plaque calcifying (good). Plaque that has little or no calcium is less stable, more prone to rupture, and more threatening.  

When your artery walls thicken with plaque and narrow the lumen, blood flow to any organ can be reduced or interrupted, leading to disability (temporary or permanent) or death. Stress tests and angiograms are useful to detect this phenomenon. However, the greatest danger is sudden plaque rupture and blood clot formation, resulting in heart attack or stroke. The best test to evaluate this stage is ultrasound for the carotid arteries (affordable) and AI processed coronary artery CT (expensive).

Source: Cleveland Heart Lab

How are arteries important to your health?

The heart pumps blood into the aorta and arteries, which then branch out into smaller blood vessels, eventually delivering the oxygen and nutrients to individual cells. Without healthy arteries, the body's tissues and organs would not receive the oxygen and nutrients needed to function properly. Maintaining healthy arteries is crucial for overall health and wellbeing. Arterial health improvement is a great reflection of reduced oxidate stress, inflammation and overall health improvement.

The artery wall has three layers:

• Adventitia (outer layer): composed of connective tissue that supports and protects the artery from external injury.

• Media (middle layer): made of smooth muscle and elastic fibers. It is responsible for regulating the diameter of the artery, which affects blood pressure and blood flow.

• Intima (inner layer): a thin layer of endothelial cells that regulate all kinds of activity, maintaining a smooth surface for blood to flow through.

Image Source: NIH U.S. National Library of Medicine

What causes plaque to develop in the arteries?

Plaque grows due to complicated interactions between genetics, high blood pressure, lipids, inflammation driven by oxidative stress and insulin resistance, diabetes, and other conditions. Arterial disease is like acne and plaque is like a pimple or pustule.

Plaque progresses as follows:

• Homogeneous plaque: This fresh, soft vulnerable plaque is like a new pimple. It is the most dangerous stage of plaque evolution because it is most likely to rupture and cause a heart attack or stroke.

• Heterogeneous plaque: This type of plaque is like a pimple that is healing. It can still rupture or erode because inflammation has not resolved. It is the most common stage of plaque seen on imaging of arteries. It is an uneven buildup of inflammatory material, fibrin, and calcium.

• Calcified Plaque: This type of plaque is the scar that results when plaque heals. Like any scar, we carry it for the rest of our lives but it is no longer a threat. Calcified plaque is the residual scar of  a rupture-related event that could have happened, but didn’t! Calcified plaque is less likely to rupture, but can still cause problems by narrowing the artery and restricting blood flow.

As plaque is developing, it is vulnerable to rupture. A clot forms in the artery lumen. If the clot blocks an artery feeding your heart, you experience a heart attack. If it blocks an artery feeding your brain, you experience a stroke. Both can result in death or disability, but they can also be prevented by making artery walls thinner/less inflamed and healthier.

Atherosclerosis and its progression is more common but not inevitable as we age. Most adults have it starting in the thirties.

Using new science, testing, and treatments, we can halt and reverse the disease in our arteries.

Take the first step to prevent heart attack and stroke. Request a complementary Discovery Zoom Call with Dr. Backs and begin your journey to prevention and a healthy, happy life.

What are some red flags for arterial and other chronic diseases?

There are many conditions associated with arterial and other chronic diseases that lurk silently only to become suddenly lethal. These “red flags” reveal increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and other consequences of chronic disease. They are not clearly causative or modifiable.  But they can motivate curiosity and motivate.

Pay attention to them. The more red flags you recognize, the more you should want to know what may be lurking in you that could suddenly or slowly cost you your health… or even your life.

In addition to the following red flags, keep in mind that men over 40 years of age, women over 50, and individuals of African-American or Hispanic descent are also at higher risk of chronic disease.

• Personal or family history of cardiovascular/arterial disease, heart attack, stroke, or Type 2 Diabetes

• Age (men over 40 and women over 50)

• Gestational diabetes

• Elevated cholesterol

• Nicotine use in any form (including second-hand smoke)

• Psychosocial issues such as depression, anxiety, or stress

• High blood pressure

• Abdominal obesity (high levels of visceral fat)

• Sleep problems (not enough sleep, sleep apnea, etc.)

• Periodontal/Endodontal disease

• Erectile dysfunction

• Rheumatoid arthritis

• Lupus

• Psoriasis

• Migraine headaches

• Gout

• Polycystic ovaries

• Hirsutism (facial hair growth in women)

• Osteoporosis

• Pre-eclampsia

• Breast cancer treatment

• COVID spike protein infection or injection

If you fall into any of these categories, take the first step to good health and prevention, and request a complimentary Discovery Zoom Call with Dr. Backs.