Any doctors/knowledgable people on here

No, of course you don't have to have something wrong with you to get a test, otherwise no one would ever get tested, because no one would ever know if anything was wrong with them. :wink:

As for fat buildups in your arteries... probably highly unnecessary. Just cut down on the rubbish food. Programmes like that, as I'm sure you know deep down, are designed to scare the **** out of people so that there is a mass upheaval in the way Britain eats. I'll bet you saw no healthy-looking people on that show, and not because of fat in their arteries, but because they were old, greasy smokers with beer bellies, to whom exercise was a foreign concept. You never see healthy-looking people on shows like that. And it's not a coincidence - people who are ill are often the people who look ill, and people who look ill often got that way before their illness. Smoking, drinking, illegal drugs, lack of exercise, overconsumption of fatty foods... it's all noticeable well before it causes any illness.

Reply 3

perhaps more useful would be to investigate the extent and nature of the link between dietry fat and heart disease. And if there is even such a thing as "fat building up" in one's arteries, anyway.

and stop eating junk, if you do.

Reply 4

generalebriety

rock_eleven

perhaps more useful would be to investigate the extent and nature of the link between dietry fat and heart disease. And if there is even such a thing as "fat building up" in one's arteries, anyway.

There is such a thing. It's actually hereditary and doctors aren't really sure why it happens in some people. I believe similar things can be caused by smoking and so on.

Reply 5

generalebriety

There is such a thing. It's actually hereditary and doctors aren't really sure why it happens in some people. I believe similar things can be caused by smoking and so on.

there is not. Its the insanely simplified-into-bull**** description of arterial plaques. It has nothing to do with fat "sticking to artery walls" etc.

Reply 6

Talya

Anonymous

This will sound stupid but im wondering if there is anyway I could get a test done (without sounding like a hypochondriac) for fat in the arteries. I think its called a carotid duplex ultrasound or something. Its just I have had a really fatty diet most of my life through my own fault and watched a programme on stiff arteries and heart disease I want to know how much build up is stuck in my arteries.

I assume you're a young person so there is no need to get the test done, just change your diet now! Any damage done so far can probably be reversed (unless you really are morbidly obese) so a change of diet is all that's needed :smile:

Reply 7

generalebriety

rock_eleven

there is not. Its the insanely simplified-into-bull**** description of arterial plaques. It has nothing to do with fat "sticking to artery walls" etc.

I am quite well aware that there isn't a blob of lard running around my blood stream going and offensively sticking itself to my arteries. :rolleyes:

The fact that the description is inaccurate doesn't stop the problem existing.

Reply 8

Awesome-o

17

Everyone has atherosclerotic plaque in our arteries unfortunately, usually evident by early teenage years, due to genetic factors and lifestyle. You need not worry about getting your arteries looked at your age though, it's usually only done when doctors think there may have a problem, and atherosclerosis tends not to cause problems till middle age in the majority of the population.

However, you could always get your blood pressure and cholesterol tested if you're worried, as high blood pressure and cholesterol (high LDL :h:

DL choesterol levels specifically) are both strongly linked to heart disease.

Living an all round healthy lifestyle (good diet, no smoking, plenty of exercise, blood pressure management) is the best strategy to delay the old arteries packing in.

Reply 9

Awesome-o

cholesterol (high LDL :h:

DL choesterol levels specifically) [is] strongly linked to heart disease.

orly? Can you link to any evidence towards that?

Reply 10

Anonymous #2

generalebriety

There is such a thing. It's actually hereditary and doctors aren't really sure why it happens in some people. I believe similar things can be caused by smoking and so on.

There's still some doubt over the exactly cellular pathogenesis of atherosclerosis but the generally accepted theory revolves around 'attack' of the arterial endothelium (inner lining) by leukocytes (white blood cell) and oxidation of Low Density Lipoproteins (LDLs - proteins that transport cholesterol to the tissue, as opposed to High -HDL - that transports excess cholesterol back to be metabolised in the liver). These LDLs become oxidised by free radicals (high reactive compounds) released by the endothelium to form cells called 'foam cells'. This makes up what's known as a fatty streak which has deposited in most people by their 20s.

Problems occur when that fatty streak progresses into what's known as a fibrous plaque where smooth muscle cells migrate and become replaced by collagen and lesions bury inside the intima (layer of arteries). These lesions are essentialy made up of things like collagen, fibrin, excess lipid and all kinds of growth and signalling factors. You also get small amounts of calcium deposits due to the death of cells. And also a layer forming between the intima and the fat deposit which results in expansion of the arteries.

Reply 11

Ywiss

15

rock_eleven

orly? Can you link to any evidence towards that?

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/256/20/2823

"The relationship between serum cholesterol and coronary heart disease (CHD) death rate was continuous, graded, and strong."

"The pattern of a continuous, graded, strong relationship between serum cholesterol and six-year age-adjusted CHD death rate prevailed for nonhypertensive nonsmokers, nonhypertensive smokers, hypertensive nonsmokers, and hypertensive smokers."

"These data of high precision show that the relationship between serum cholesterol and CHD...is a continuously graded one."

Why are you starting a dispute about this?

Reply 12

Anonymous #3

All u gotta do is exercise like 1 hour a day (like play football with breaks and run or just jog for 30 mins with breaks)

excesising is better with diet, then just diet alone

excercising without diet, but eating healtily is very good.

Reply 13