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Get help now: Ask doctors free Educational text. Your diagnosis will begin with a physical exam, as well as a review of your personal and family medical history. Additional testing may be done to pinpoint the location and degree of the blockage. Testing can include:. These tests can be used to measure the amount of fats and cholesterol in your blood, how much resistance your heart faces when pumping blood blood pressure , how well oxygen-rich blood is reaching certain parts of the body, and the degree of damage to areas of the body where there is a clogged artery.
Treating clogged arteries should be done with a holistic approach. Your doctor will first address the problems that led to the clogged artery. Lifestyle changes are key, and may include:. Medications may be used to help you manage conditions that can cause clogged arteries, including:. You may also be prescribed medications like anticoagulants or antiplatelets to help prevent complications of clogged arteries.
If the blockage is more severe, a surgeon may need to help clear the artery mechanically. This can be done in several ways, usually with a minimally invasive technique that involves a catheter fed into the vessel.
Some techniques to clear a clogged artery include:. In more severe cases, you may have to undergo bypass surgery, where a piece of a vessel is taken from one part of the body and transplanted to replace the damaged or blocked area. The most concerning complications of clogged arteries are heart attack and stroke. A heart attack can occur when there is blockage in the coronary arteries, which supply blood to the heart. When a blockage affects the brain, this is called an ischemic stroke.
This type of stroke can be treated effectively with strong blood thinners. Other complications include ischemia, an inadequate blood supply to an organ or body part. It can affect any part of the body. Ischemia occurs whenever oxygen is cut off from an area of the body, and tissues tend to become damaged quickly without oxygen. Arterial blockages can also lead to blood clots , caused by platelets and other blood cells that collect around the blocked, narrowed area.
As clots and ischemia affect different areas of the body, they can cause other problems like kidney and liver problems, poor wound healing, and even digestive problems.
The key to keeping your arteries clear of blockages is to eat a low-fat diet and exercise regularly. Plant-based diets have even been shown to help reverse coronary artery disease in some people. You also need to make sure you manage other chronic conditions that may increase your risk of developing atherosclerosis, such as high blood pressure and diabetes. If you have a blocked artery, blood and the oxygen it carries cannot get to the organs and tissues throughout your body.
It can affect any part of your body. Foods that are high in fat and cholesterol, such as fried and fast foods, can contribute to a buildup of plaques and clogged arteries.
There are many symptoms of clogged arteries, including numbness and tingling, high blood pressure, cold limbs, and discoloration of the skin. There are a number of tests to measure how well blood moves through your arteries. Blood pressure measurements are the least invasive, but ultrasound, imaging studies, and cardiac catheterization can give your healthcare team more precise information.
It is difficult to clear a clogged artery naturally, but you can help slow and potentially reverse some plaque buildup by following a healthy lifestyle and a low-fat, plant-based diet. This could be fatal. So, when one is diagnosed with blocked arteries, it is necessary to take steps to avoid the worsening of the situation.
As far as the question of how long can you live with the condition, there is no straight answer. There are multiple ways in which plaque build-up can be fatal. So, it is not possible to predict how long can you live with blocked arteries. However, there are some habits that can speed up the plaque formation, thereby reducing your life-span. It is essential to know what these risk factors are.
Steering clear of these might help you to keep plaque at bay. Age: The plaque takes years to get formed inside the arteries. So, the older you are the higher the risk you have. It is seen that the men are at risk of getting Atherosclerosis when they are 45 and above, whereas for women it is 55 and above.
As we grow older the system gets weaker and loses its ability to fight back. Family History: If your parents have had heart diseases, there are higher chances of you getting it as well. Your risk increases considerably if they had heart diseases at an early age. You have to be particularly alert if your brother or father had it before they were 55 or if your sister or mother had it before Internationally recognized as a leader in the treatment of complex coronary disease, Piedmont is one of only a few hospitals in the country to offer this non-invasive treatment for chronic total occlusions.
Nationwide, the success rate with this procedure is about 60 percent. At Piedmont, the success rate is 89 to 90 percent. Need to make an appointment with a Piedmont physician?
Save time, book online. Close X. Back to Living Better Living Better newsletter. Zip Code. A patient shares: How I recovered from totally blocked arteries.
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