ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the basic disease process of atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is a multifactorial disease; aging is only one of the many factors attributing to a process. The chapter reviews the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, followed by identification of its risk factors, particularly those pertinent to the nutritional aspects of aging. The prevention and treatment aim at the elimination of the risk factors described or alleviation of their harmful effects. Regardless of how much aging per se contributes to the disease process, the most common and important cardiovascular diseases in the elderly patients are coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular accident, aortic aneurysm, occlusive peripheral vascular disease, and phlebothrombosis. Weakening of the vascular wall by atheromas is the mechanism for the formation of atherosclerotic aneurysms. Subsequently, endothelial injury by viral infection or bacterial endotoxin can also contribute to the process of atherosclerogenesis.
