Endothelium A series of articles for general audiences Cardiovascular Disease and the Endothelium by Jeffrey Porro Millions of Americans are counting cholesterol, spending more time on the stairmaster and less in front of TV, and trading their burgers for broiled fishall in an effort to prevent heart attacks and strokes. Doctors and scientists are doing their part, too. Their biomedical research is unraveling the complex causes of these deadly disorders, which kill almost half the people who die every year in the United States, Japan, and Europe. Some of the most important progress has been in research on a disease called atherosclerosis.
Doctors know atherosclerosis all too well as the main cause of heart attacks and strokes.
In the last decade, researchers investigating what causes the disease have discovered that the endothelium, an extremely thin lining of the walls of the body's arteries, plays a crucial role. Recent discoveries about how that lining operates are providing doctors new tools for preventing atherosclerosis, diagnosing it if it occurs, and treating it effectively. Atherosclerosis From Fatty Streaks to Strokes. In a healthy person, blood flows freely from the heart to all parts of the body through miles of arteries. But disease sometimes damages the arteries, slowing the flow of blood or even stopping it.