Approaches to tackling atherosclerosis include lifestyle modification, medication and surgery. Dietary advice should be to increase the proportion of fruit and vegetables consumed while minimising saturated fats, increasing activity levels, reducing body weight, stopping smoking and moderating alcohol intake.³

Medication choices include antihypertensives, drugs to reduce cholesterol levels, and drugs to reduce the risk of blood clots forming.^3,4

Surgical interventions for severe atherosclerosis aim to increase arterial blood flow. This can include opening out the artery (coronary angioplasty or percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty) usually by inserting stents, a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) to divert blood flow around a blockage, or surgically removing plaque build-up in the carotid arteries (carotid endarterectomy).^3,4,30,31,32