A friend left a message for Huazi, saying that if soft spots were found in her carotid arteries, would there be a danger of cerebral infarction, and was there any way to eliminate it? Huazi told him that the vast majority of carotid artery plaques are not dangerous in themselves, and usually serve as a "window" for the human arteries, reflecting the condition of other arteries in the human body.
Once carotid plaques appear, they are difficult to completely eliminate, but the use of statin-based lipid-lowering drugs and tight control of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels may reverse the plaques.
First, the carotid arteries are prone to plaque
The carotid artery of the human body is a very easy place to appear plaque, because the artery here has a "bifurcation", the shear force changes when the blood flows through, it is easy to cause mechanical damage to the carotid artery lining, and the LDL-C in the blood will invade the damaged arterial lining, and then form atherosclerotic plaques.
In fact, color ultrasound examination does not directly "see" the plaque, but through the feedback of ultrasound, by measuring the thickness of the carotid artery intima. The two multiplicative numbers on the carotid ultrasound report refer to the long and short diameters of the plaque. The real danger of plaque depends on its thickness and the degree of narrowing of the carotid arteries.
If it is only a flat plaque and there is no carotid artery stenosis, it means that the situation is not serious and the problem is not big.
Second, the risk of carotid artery plaque
Carotid plaque is age-related, and the older the age, the greater the probability of plaque appearing. More than half of people over the age of fifty or sixty develop carotid plaques.
The vast majority of people are not at risk of carotid plaque, and in patients with cerebral infarction, only a very small number are caused by carotid artery causes, and the vast majority are caused by atherosclerosis of the cerebral arteries and atrial fibrillation.
The appearance of plaque in the carotid artery does not mean that plaque will also appear in the cerebral artery, and the vast majority of people can coexist with carotid artery plaque without disease.
Third, what situations require intervention
Under the influence of risk factors such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, smoking, obesity, etc., the progression of plaque will be accelerated, and plaque may also appear in the cerebral arteries at the same time. Under the influence of risk factors, the nature of the plaque is also more unstable, and it is easy to break, which will induce platelet aggregation and form thrombosis.
If the plaque is tested for "strong echo" or "iso-echo", it means that the plaque texture is uniform and stable, and if there are no relevant risk factors, pharmacological intervention is not necessarily required. If the test results are unstable soft plaques such as "low echo" and "mixed echo", and there are risk factors such as three highs and smoking, timely intervention is needed.
Statins can reverse plaque
The lipid core of the plaque is formed by the accumulation of a large number of foam cells containing LDL-C, which cannot be completely removed, so the plaque cannot be eliminated. However, the use of statins can increase the density and volume of the lipid core of the plaque, become less prone to collapse, and play a role in reversing the plaque.
To achieve the reversal of plaque needs to meet two prerequisites, the first condition is that LDL-C needs to meet the standard, people who have not had myocardial infarction and cerebral infarction, LDL-C should be reduced to less than 2.6mmol/L; people who have had myocardial infarction and cerebral infarction, LDL-C should be reduced to less than 1.8mmol/L.
The second condition is that the medication is insisted on for a long time, usually need to continue to take the drug for 2 to 4 years to achieve the effect of reversing the plaque, and people who do not have contraindications to taking the drug are recommended to take it for life.
To sum up, the vast majority of carotid artery soft spots are not very dangerous, do not panic too much. As long as you improve healthy living habits, use drugs under the guidance of doctors to control the "three highs", and use statins to make LDL-C meet the standard, it is still possible to reverse plaque and reduce the risk. If you have any questions about medication, consult your doctor or pharmacist. I am a pharmacist Huazi, welcome to follow me and share more health knowledge.