Question about plaque build-up
Email
PrintQuestion:
If I have had plaque build up in the past is there a way to reduce the amount of it in my vascular system?
Answer:
Once you have plaque, you have plaque. There is currently no way to "clean out" the vascular system and wipe it all away. I know you were not asking that directly, but I do get that question a lot. The ways of reducing the amount of plaque in your system, are to follow recommendations to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. That means: watching what you are eating, exercising, taking prescribed medications for control of blood pressure and cholesterol, taking an aspirin, plavix or coumadin as prescribed etc. There is a component of your cholesterol, the HDL, or healthy cholesterol, that does bind to some of the bad stuff and help to take it out of your system. It is very important to have a high level of HDL for this purpose. Exercise is the best thing to increase the HDL.
