Why is not possible to get rid of plaque in your arteries? It seems like once its there you cant get rid of it, you can only prevent buildup

Question

I know that eating healthy foods and doing cardio will reduce plaque buildup and decrease your risk but it seems like there’s nothing you can do to get the buildup out once is there. All the advice is about prevention not elimination

In: Biology

Answer 1

Plaque doesn’t form on the inside of the artery, it forms inside the walls. It’s so well incorporated that you can’t easily scrape it out.

It’s also a dangerous proceedure, plaque that breaks off can travel through your blood stream like a rogue blood clot and potentially cause a stroke.

That doesn’t mean that this will always be the case though.

In time technology like micro machines or new treatments and drugs might be able to eat away at the plaque in a safe manner.