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A test tube is one thing, but can you actually see crystals poking out in autopsy specimens? Yes, cholesterol crystals piercing the arterial plaque were found in patients who died with acute coronary syndrome. Extensive protrusion of cholesterol crystals into the middle of the artery. What makes us think it was the crystals that actually burst the plaque?
All patients who died of acute heart attacks had perforating cholesterol crystals like this sticking out of their plaques but no crystals were found perforating the arteries of people who had severe atherosclerosis, but died first of other, non-cardiac causes. This can explain why dramatically lowering cholesterol levels with diet or drugs can reduce the risk of fatal heart attack, by pulling cholesterol out of the artery wall, decreasing the risk of crystalizing these cholesterol needles that may pop your plaque.
dteresa wrote:and I was feeling so good when I got up this morning.
............. And if statins also decrease cholesterol crystallization maybe I will have to take a new look at statins......
didi
An estimated 17 million people die of CVDs, particularly heart attacks and strokes, every year.
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