Carotid Artery Disease

What are the symptoms of carotid disease?

• You may have no symptoms with carotid disease and be asymptomatic.
• You may develop a weakness or numbness on one side of your body.
• You may experience vision disturbances.
• These symptoms can last few minutes and are referred as “transient ischemic attacks: TIAs” or “mini-strokes” or can have longer duration and are referred as “stroke”.

What are the risks factors?

Risk factors include smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, family history of heart disease.

What to do if I am  at risk for carotid disease?

• Work on your modifiable risk factors such as smoking cessation, healthy diet, regular daily exercise.
• Closely work with your primary care physician to manage your high blood pressure and high cholesterol level.
• If you develop symptoms that are mentioned above you must seek medical attention immediately.

What are the treatment options for carotid disease?

• Lifestyle changes such as smoking cessation, healthy diet, and regular daily exercise.
• Medications to control high blood pressure and high cholesterol level.
• Open surgery called carotid endarterectomy which is the removal of the plaque through a neck incision.
• Endovascular approach which is a placement of a stent in the carotid artery.

What can happen if carotid disease is left untreated?

 Life-threatening stroke. 

What is carotid artery disease?

Carotid arteries are your blood vessels that supply blood to your brain. Buildup of a substance mainly made of fat deposit, cholesterols, calcium and other substances called “plaque” in the carotid wall is referred to as carotid disease.