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The Pathogenesis of Atherosclerosis: Myths and Established Facts About Its Relationship to Aging

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Book cover Atherogenesis and Aging

Abstract

There are three well established approaches to the study of atherogenesis. The first and probably the oldest approach has been that of correlating the development of the atherosclerotic plaque as observed at autopsy with the age of the individual and with selected disease processes such as hypertension, diabetes and hyperlipidemia. This approach has led to many valuable observations including the concept that atherogenesis starts relatively early in life (Figure 2-1) with the accumulation of lipid in the foci which have the potential to progress into raised plaques (1). This approach has also been used to demonstrate that the disease commonly progresses in some populations and not in others (2). The results of these international studies also indicate that raised advanced plaques are frequently present in the third decade in individuals from populations which later demonstrated a high incidence of ischemic cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and peripheral vascular disease.

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Authors
  1. Robert W. Wissler
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  2. Dragoslava Vesselinovitch
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, University of Pennsylvania, 19104, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Sandra R. Bates Ph.D.

  2. National Institutes of Health, 20892, MD, USA

    Edwin C. Gangloff Ph.D.

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Wissler, R.W., Vesselinovitch, D. (1987). The Pathogenesis of Atherosclerosis: Myths and Established Facts About Its Relationship to Aging. In: Bates, S.R., Gangloff, E.C. (eds) Atherogenesis and Aging. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4652-7_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4652-7_2

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