Atherosclerosis – New Approach to Unclogging Arteries

When people have too much cholesterol in their blood, immune cells called macrophages seize fatty particles and try to drag them out through the walls of the artery. But they are too big, get stuck and eventually the macrophages die. These plugs of dead cells are what causes atherosclerosis, the hardening and clogging of the arteries.

When people have too much cholesterol in their blood, immune cells called macrophages seize fatty particles and try to drag them out through the walls of the artery. But they are too big, get stuck and eventually the macrophages die. These plugs of dead cells are what causes atherosclerosis, the hardening and clogging of the arteries. Dr. Ira Tabas of Columbia University in New York and colleagues have shown that they have found the mechanism that kills the cells, and a drug that may stop the process. According to Tabas, “Statins are utterly fantastic at lowering LDL.” But they only lower the risk of stroke or heart attack by about 30 percent. Tabas believes a drug that could stop the macrophages from dying and clogging up the arteries in the first place would work in tandem with statins and similar drugs to prevent heart disease.Tabas found that extremely low doses of a drug, specifically one called U18666A, very specifically prevents cholesterol from getting into the endoplasmic reticulum. This could offer a route to treating heart disease with few side effects. The more specific a drug’s action, and the lower the dose needed, the less likely it is to cause side effects.(Source: M.S.W.: ZoeMed: Cardiac Life Centre: 27th August 2003)