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Questions and Answers
- Q
- My mother is 76 years old and has been diagnosed as having massive
artherosclerosis with narrowing of the arteries in her brain which she has
been told is inoperable. Could you comment on the treatment and prognosis of
such a diagnosis? She had a very minor "warning stroke" with little or no
after effects. Other than that, she seems fine.
- A
- It's hard to comment on prognosis but elimination or modifications
of alterable risk factors seems to decrease the incidence of the
complications of atherosclorosis. If present, diabetes mellitus and obesity
should be adequately treated. Stop, or cut down, on cigarette smoking.
Lowering blood pressure reduces the chance of a further stroke -
consequently, hypertension, if present, should be controlled ( by a variety
of treatment programmes ).
Individuals with cholesterol levels above the average for their
population, and whose HDL levels were below average, had decreased
morbidity and mortality (from cardiac events) when put on a diet and treated with
antilipidemic drugs.
Slowing of the progression of atherosclerosis has been shown to
occur in an experimental study where HDL blood levels had been increased by
diet and exercise.
Treatment of atherosclerosis is aimed at its complications, in your
mother's case, stroke. Should it occur, early and repeated appraisals of the
patient's status by physician, physiotherapist, and nursing staff will
result in designing a remedial problem.
Best wishes to you and your mother.
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