Cause of Plaque Formation

• The process of plaque formation:

  • The process of plaque formation is based on the premise that certain conditions must be in place for a plaque to form:
  • High levels of circulating Low Density Lipoproteins
  • Damage to or irritation of the endothelium
• The process of plaque formation - High levels of circulating Low Density Lipoproteins:

  • which are composed of a massive 50% cholesterol that can equate to 2 to 3 thousand cholesterol molecules per LDL molecule
• The process of plaque formation - Damage to or irritation of the endothelium:

  • can be due to a number of causes including
  • high levels of frictional or shearing forces (usually due to high blood pressure)
  • high levels of blood glucose or insulin (as in diabetes)
  • micro-organisms (e.g. a consequences of systemic viral or bacterial illness which may even have been quite minor i.e. tooth caries or sore throats)
  • inflammatory mediators (seen in obesity, diabetes & auto-immune conditions like RA etc), toxins & irritants (commonly including bacterial toxins, & nicotine associated with smoking