Carotid stenosis, sometimes referred to as carotid artery stenosis or disease, is when your carotid arteries are blocked with fatty deposits known as plaque. Your carotid arteries are located on either side of your neck and are responsible for carrying blood to the brain and head. Therefore, when they get blocked and result in carotid stenosis, you’re at risk for serious problems, namely a stroke.
Because of how serious carotid stenosis is, it’s important to keep your carotid arteries from getting blocked. Carotid stenosis is a slowly progressing condition, as the carotid arteries slowly get narrower and narrower over time as plaque progressively builds up. In most cases, before carotid stenosis leads to a stroke, people will experience a transient ischemic attack, which is when blood to the brain is temporarily cut off.
Carotid stenosis is a very slowly progressing disease, and it can take years for enough plaque to build up in your arteries to cut off blood flow to the brain. For that reason, there usually aren’t noticeable symptoms in the early stages of the disease. In fact, most people do not experience any noticeable symptoms until they suffer from a transient ischemic attack (TIA.) Here are some of the symptoms you may experience immediately after a TIA or shortly before one.
You’ll experience these symptoms because there isn’t enough blood flowing to your brain. As the condition worsens, the symptoms will become more pronounced and severe, up to the point of suffering a stroke. Unfortunately, in some cases, no symptoms will be experienced until after suffering a TIA or stroke, the latter of which can be deadly.
Carotid stenosis is a direct result of plaque and fatty deposits building up in your carotid arteries. This process, known as atherosclerosis, happens slowly over time until enough plaque builds up to block blood flow to your brain. The fatty deposits blocking your arteries are usually a result of excess cholesterol and fat.
Here are a few risk factors that increase your chances of developing carotid stenosis.
Carotid stenosis is almost always the result of an unhealthy lifestyle. Therefore, if you want to avoid getting it, you should maintain a healthy weight, exercise, eat healthily, and make other positive improvements.
Carotid stenosis can be difficult to detect if you’re not aware that you’re at risk for the disease. Therefore, it’s important to bet regular physicals so that your doctor can keep an eye on you. If you’re at risk for carotid stenosis, here’s how your doctor will diagnose you with the condition.
Based on your symptoms, carotid artery sounds, and imaging tests, your doctor can determine whether or not you have carotid stenosis.
As long as carotid stenosis doesn’t cause a deadly stroke before you can start treatment, it’s fairly curable. In most cases, your doctor will use medications to reduce fatty deposits in your arteries and restore blood flow. If the blockage is too severe, however, you might need surgery to remove the plaque. Management for carotid stenosis usually involves lifestyle changes, dietary changes, and medications to prevent plaque build-up.