Cholesterol crystals may cause heart problems

	Tweet

Heart Attacks and Strokes often occur when plaques inside the blood vessels rupture and block blood flow. Now, new research sheds light on how cholesterol crystal build-up in the plaque contributes to this process.

The researchers are hopeful that this information will ultimately lead to new treatments for Heart Attack and Stroke, according to the report in the medical journal Clinical Cardiology.

“As the cholesterol crystallizes, two things can happen,” lead author Dr. George S. Abela, from Michigan State University in East Lansing, said in a statement. “If it’s a big pool of cholesterol, it will expand and just tear the cap off the deposit in the arterial wall. Or the crystals, which are sharp, needle-like structures, poke their way through the membrane covering the cholesterol deposit, like nails through wood.”

Previous studies investigating how plaques rupture have only provided a static image, the report indicates. To capture the dynamic process, the researchers conducted two experiments to evaluate the transformation of cholesterol from a liquid state to a solid. In particular, they were interested in whether the cholesterol crystals that form injure and disrupt the plaque.

In the first experiment, the researchers measured cholesterol crystallization in large cylinders. In the second, the effect of crystal growth on blood vessel-like membranes was examined.

During the experiments, the crystals grew dramatically in size and eventually pierced the test membranes.

“So far, treatments (to prevent heart attacks and strokes) have not been focused” on cholesterol crystallization, Abela noted. “Now, we have a target to attack with the various approaches we have. In the past, we’ve treated the various stages that lead to this final stage, rather than preventing or treating this final stage of the condition.”

SOURCE: Clinical Cardiology, September 2005.

RELATED STORIES:
Heart Attack Warning Signs   Statewide Program Helps Improve Quality of Care For Heart Attack   Brief Overview of Heart Failure   Poor memory and slow reactions linked to heart attacks   A tipple a day keeps heart attacks away   Vioxx user was a heart attack waiting to happen   Women Still Get Lower-quality Heart Attack Care than Men   Common Painkillers Associated with Increased Risk of Heart Failure   Optional Programs and Heart Attack Care   Rapid return to work after heart attack OK for some   New drug could reduce heart attack damage   Hormone Therapy May Prevent Heart Attacks for Women in Their 50s

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]