Important things to know about Blocked Arteries and treatment

For different reasons, these blood vessels can get blocked when atherosclerotic plaque starts to build up along the wall of the vessels. Blocked arteries may reduce the flow of blood to the heart muscle, leading to a weak heart or, in serious cases, heart attacks or sudden cardiac arrest. Which is fatal.

One way to treat blocked coronary arteries is by inserting catheters. This involves sending a balloon to the narrowed portion of the vessel (a.k.a balloon angioplasty) and inserting a stent. This will remove some of the plaque build-up and widen the vessels to an appropriate size.

Although this procedure is life-saving in the case of an acute heart attack, not all blocked coronary arteries need to be treated this way. Treating mild to moderate blockages this way has not been shown to lower the risk of future heart attack or death from heart disease, and in some cases, do more harm than good.

An implanted stent is permanent. Often you will require medications for life, including one or more blood-thinning agents. With that, comes the risk of bleeding.

Blocked arteries which cause minimal or no symptoms and do not affect heart function can be improved with decent lifestyle changes.

Instead of conventional drug treatments, the focus is on routine physical activity, better nutrition, stress management, quality sleep, social support and a reduction of tobacco and alcohol consumption.

Many studies of heart attack patients that aggressively lower cholesterol with relevant medications can lead to stabilisation and shrinkage of plaques. When coupled with a decent lifestyle change, it can lead to a reversal of the blockages.

These reversal programmes are usually delivered by cardiologists specially trained in preventive cardiology and rehabilitation, with the help of a multi-disciplinary healthcare team.