Plaque Breakage Paves Way for Heart Attack

A new French study found people who experience atherothrombosis have a much higher risk of experiencing a cardiovascular event.

Atherothrombosis occurs when a plaque formation in an artery breaks off and lodges in another part of the artery. Platelets in the blood stream, which are part of the body’s natural clotting process, form around the plaque formation and begin to block off the artery.

This can cause heart attacks, strokes and peripheral circulatory problems, depending on the area where the blockage occurs. Diseases resulting from atherothrombosis are projected to become the No. 1 killer worldwide by 2020.

The study, led by Dr. Gabriel Steg at the Hôpital Bichat-Claude Bernard in Paris, examined data from 64,977 patients in 44 countries.

Steg concluded patients who had occurrences of atherothrombosis were two to three times more likely to develop a heart attack or stroke than patients who just had multiple risk factors, such as family history or poor eating habits.