Carotid artery neck pain: Symptoms, causes, and more
How Long Can You Live With Blocked Arteries?
Blocked arteries, or atherosclerosis, can shorten your lifespan. This condition is dangerous and you'll want to consult your healthcare team about managing the condition, including possible medications.
Blocked arteries are a leading cause of cardiovascular diseases that can result in fatal medical emergencies like heart attack and stroke.
While there's no exact estimate on how atherosclerosis can reduce your lifespan overall, these other serious medical events can significantly shorter your life — or even lead to sudden death.
This article will explore some of the effects atherosclerosis can have on your overall health and how complications of this condition could impact your lifespan.
Blocked arteries, a condition known as atherosclerosis, is dangerous because the fatty plaques that build up along your artery walls can slow blood flow through your body. Your heart has to work harder to pump blood through these narrowed vessels, leading to complications like heart failure.
The extra force of the blood through these vessels can also stretch and weaken your blood vessels, raise blood pressure, and dislodge pieces of the plaques that line your artery walls. Dislodged plaques can travel to other areas, completely blocking blood flow.
This can result in potentially fatal complications like heart attack, stroke, and tissue damage from a lack of oxygen-rich blood.
About half of all Americans between 45 and 84 years old have blocked arteries and don't even know it. That's why it's difficult to estimate the exact impact this problem can have on overall life expectancy.
However, atherosclerosis is the main cause of all cardiovascular disease, and the impact of atherosclerosis can be estimated by looking at some of the medical issues that can result from it.
Atherosclerosis is dangerous for many reasons, but one of the big ones is that it can develop slowly over time without any noticeable symptoms.
For many people, symptoms only appear when there is already significant blockage in your arteries or when a sudden possibly fatal medical emergency occurs.
If you do experience symptoms of atherosclerosis, these could include things like:
Maintaining your heart health throughout your life can help you avoid developing atherosclerosis and the complications that can come with it.
Research suggests that healthy lifestyle choices can extend lives in women by about 14 years in comparison to those who don't make the same choices. For men, healthy choices can add up to 12 years of life.
In addition to maintaining a healthy weight with a balanced diet and regular exercise, you can talk with a healthcare professional about steps you can take to avoid serious complications from atherosclerosis.
You may be prescribed medications to help control cholesterol and blood pressure. Taking these medications regularly and as prescribed is an important part of prevention.
Smoking cessation may also be helpful to prevent progression.
It's important to follow up regularly with your doctor.
If you have severe disease, medical treatments or surgeries to restore blood flow to different areas of your body, or reroute blood through blocked vessels might be recommended for you.
There's no way you can really check for blocked arteries at home. Diagnosis of atherosclerosis usually requires formal medical testing with things like:
Blocked arteries, also known as atherosclerosis, is the leading contributor to cardiovascular disease. The buildup of plaques that happen with atherosclerosis can happen to any artery in your body and lead to heart attack, stroke, and even death.
Talk with your healthcare team about how to manage your condition if you've been diagnosed with atherosclerosis. Following a heart-healthy lifestyle can't undo damage that's already done, but it can help you prevent additional plaque buildup.
Warning Of Five Hidden Signs Of A Heart Attack Following Trevor Francis' Death
There are many different symptoms of a heart attack but following the tragic death of former England star Trevor Francis, here are five warning signs that are less commonly known
Football great Trevor Francis passed away age 69 at his home in Marbella on Monday morning having suffered a heart attack (Image: Getty Images)
People are being warned to look out for five hidden warning signs of a heart attack following the death of former England star Trevor Francis.
The Three Lions icon passed away age 69 at his home in Marbella on Monday morning having suffered a heart attack.
Heart attacks are caused when coronary arteries supplying blood are blocked and some symptoms are commonly known such as pressure, aching or a squeezing feel on the chest.
Sometimes the pain covers the arms, neck and back while moving in waves with it often starting mildly and then worsening.
Football great Francis had suffered a heart attack 11 years ago and kept himself fit with daily power walks.
He had an annual health check through the League Managers' Association and, according to his spokesman, was "enjoying life very much having eventually got over the death of his wife". Helen passed away in 2017 after a battle with cancer.
Francis will always be remembered for scoring Nottingham Forest 's winner in their 1979 European Cup final win against Malmo, while he also pulled on the England shirt 52 times.
People may have very different symptoms or none at all when they are suffering a heart attack and here is a list of five signs that are less commonly known, stated the Australian Heart foundation.
1. Dizziness and light-headednessAn indication could be if a person starts feeling faint, unsteady on their feet and the room starts spinning. If this happens it could be your body warning you of a heart attack and help should be sought.
2. Nausea, indigestion or vomitingThese symptoms could be brought on by many conditions but for anyone feeling sick, believing they have simply indigestion or maybe vomiting they should not ignore the possibility that it could be something more serious. It should always be remembered that the sooner help is given then the better are the outcomes.
3. Shortness of breathWhile being left out of breath is normal when exercising, when it happens for no apparent reason then it needs to be looked into and could be caused by many conditions. But when it happens along with a tightening of the chest, or generally discomfort in that area then, in particular, it could be a warning sign of a heart attack.
4. SweatingSweating for no reason with people feeling hot while the weather is not particularly warm could also be another indicator of a heart attack. This includes a cold sweat which is commonly seen as being caused by a virus or infection.
5. No warningThere doesn't have to be a warning sign of a heart attack and somebody could have no symptoms at all. Signs may only become clear afterwards and tests could show that the person has suffered a heart attack.
10 Foods That Can Prevent Clogged Arteries
Clogged arteries can cause serious health issues including heart attack and stroke. And you won't always know they're clogged until you start noticing symptoms.
Biskup offers some food and drinks worth incorporating into your heart-healthy diet. Read more.
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