The Surprising Truth About Blocked Arteries
By Michael Roizen, M.D., and Mehmet Oz, M.D. When it comes to your arteries, we (and YOU) want them to be as clean as possible. So it makes sense that you're better off if an artery is 50 percent blocked than if it's 90 percent blocked, right? Oddly, not always. One strange aspect of heart disease is that sometimes the person with a worse buildup of stuff in his or her arteries is better off than someone with less of a waste dump there.
How's that? Well, if an artery has spent 20 years growing plaque and narrowing, your body has spent at least some of those years learning how to do some of the artery's work somewhere else. It's called collateral blood supply. It's as if the bridge you take to work every day has closed down a lane and caused traffic jams. Eventually, you learn new routes to your office. So does your body: It builds new vessels to compensate for blocked ones, especially if you do physical activity.
With a 50 percent clog, your body may not have found it necessary to build extra highways or alternate-route bridges. So when a clot fills that path, the main bridge is closed and the party's over.
Put those potato chips down! That doesn't mean you should eat your way to a 90 percent blockage! It means that your body helps you when things get really bad. But it's far better to prevent plaque in the first place through what you eat and how active you stay. There's even better news: Those good food choices and activities can pull that already formed plaque out -- but that's another tip.
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The YOU Docs, Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen, are authors of "YOU: On a Diet." Want more? See "The Dr. Oz Show" on TV (check local listings). To submit questions, go to www.RealAge.com. (c) 2010 Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc. The YOU Docs -- Mike Roizen and Mehmet Oz -- are authors of the best-selling "YOU: The Owner's Manual" and "YOU: On a Diet." To submit questions and find ways to grow younger and healthier, go to www.RealAge.com, the docs' online home.
Read more about By Michael Roizen, M.D., and Mehmet Oz, M.D. at ArcaMax.com.
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