Since our veins are in an elastic structure, they do not allow blood pressure to change in response to the changing volume of circulating blood. Atherosclerosis that occurs over time is the most important cause of heart attack, cerebral vascular occlusion, cerebral hemorrhage and foot gangrene. Atherosclerosis is a disease that usually does not show any specific symptoms until it appears as a clinical picture.
Arterial walls, which are flexible under normal conditions, expand or contract according to the amount of blood passing through the vein. With these features, arteries regulate the amount of blood in the circulation. In atherosclerosis, the flexible structures in the vessel wall are covered with very hard tissue and the flexibility is lost. The hardening of the vessel wall is followed by the formation of structures (atheroma plaques) growing from the wall into the vessel. As a result of the development of these plaques, the diameter of the vascular space narrows and the amount of blood passing through is reduced. Atherosclerosis causes the formation of sensitive plaques in the vessels, and these sensitive plaques rupture, leading to a heart attack.
Diet affects these plaques through vascular cell proliferation, oxidant-antioxidant balance, cholesterol metabolism and coagulation system, especially by acting on some hormones.
