The Genesis of Atherosclerosis and Risk Factors: A Review

Abstract

Atherosclerosis constitutes the most common medical and surgical problem. This can be manifested clinically as stroke, coronary artery disease, or peripheral vascular disease. In the present review the microscopic appearance of the normal arterial wall, the definition of atherosclerosis and the five theories of atherogenesis are described. These are: the lipid theory, the hemodynamic theory, the fibrin incrustation theory, the nonspecific mesenchymal hypothesis and the response to injury hypothesis. Based on the above theories the sequence of events in atherogenesis is analyzed. The classification of the atherosclerotic lesions according to Stary (types I-VI) and their characteristics appear in a table. The epidemiology and the role of the following risk factors are presented in detail: age, sex, lipid abnormalities, cigarette smoking, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, physical inactivity, alcohol consumption, obesity, and hemostatic factors. In addition, less common genetically determined associations like homocystinuria, Tangier disease, Hutchinson-Gilford syndrome (progeria), Werner's syndrome, radiation induced atherosclerosis and the implications of Chlamydia pneumoniae on the arterial wall are discussed.

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“…The prevalence and severity of carotid atherosclerosis continued to increase with age among the elderly, and more disease was found in men than in women at all ages. This corresponds to study by Tegos et al, [14].…”

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“…Several theories have been proposed, such as the lipid theory, the hemodynamic theory, the fibrin incrustation theory, the nonspecific mesenchymal hypothesis, and the response to injury hypothesis (Tegos et al 2001). None of these elucidate exact mechanisms satisfactorily.…”

Fungal siderophores function as protective agents of LDL oxidation and are promising anti‐atherosclerotic metabolites in functional food

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