Arteries are blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients from your heart to the rest of your body. Healthy arteries are flexible and elastic. Arteriosclerosis occurs when these arteries become thick, due to the buildup of fats, cholesterol and other substances and sometimes restrict blood flow to your organs and tissues.

Atherosclerosis is a narrowing of the arteries caused by a buildup of plaque on the artery walls. Arteries are lined with a thin layer of cells that keeps them smooth and allows blood to flow easily. This is called the endothelium.

Atherosclerosis starts when the endothelium becomes damaged, allowing the harmful type of cholesterol to build up in the artery wall. The body sends a type of white blood cell to clean up this cholesterol, but, sometimes, the cells get stuck at the affected site. Plaque that can be built up, made of cholesterol, macrophages, calcium, and other substances from the blood. In some cases, the plague eventually breaks open – this can block the artery, leading to life-threatening complications, such as stroke and heart attack.

Atherosclerosis symptoms:

• chest pain or angina
• pain in the legs, arms
• fatigue muscle weakness in the legs from lack of circulation
• shortness of breath
• coughing
• vomiting
• extreme anxiety

Atherosclerosis leads to many health problems, including stroke, heart attack, kidney disease, and dementia.

Ayurveda explains that due to intake of unhealthy diet, excessive exercise, excess stress, poor nutrition and aging, Vata increases in the body. That can lead to diseases such as atherosclerosis.

Causative factors behind the Atherosclerosis disorder in Ayurveda are viewed differently due to the energies behind bodily function. In arteriosclerosis, dhatu Agni (Fire, one of the major tissues of the body) is affected by Vata dosha at the level of rakta dhatu ( blood tissue), which also affects the formation of the superior byproducts and waste products of blood.