Medical interventions, such as improving diet, lowering blood lipids, or controlling blood pressure and blood sugar, can only do so much when it comes to treating atherosclerotic disease. Is it possible to make earlier predictions for risk factors for plaque formation within the carotid arteries via characteristics of vascular structure and the dynamics of blood flow before the disease progresses?
In Physics of Fluids, from AIP Publishing, researchers in China present clinicians with information about the risk factors for atherosclerotic plaque formation from a mechanical point of view. The scientists are exploring whether it is possible to screen and intervene early for people at risk for atherosclerotic disease from the perspective of hemodynamics, using color Doppler ultrasound, coronary computed tomography angiography, and other screenings.
