Complications

Heart disease
 
Narrowing of the small blood vessels supplying your heart muscle results in heart disease. Partially blocked venules (small blood vessels) results in chest pain on exercise (known as angina). If complete blockage occurs, your heart muscle can die. This is a heart attack. Heart attacks can result in permanent irreversible damage to your heart or death.

Stroke
 
The blood vessels supplying areas of your brain can become narrowed or even blocked. If this unblocks quickly you’ll experience symptoms of a mini-stroke (known as a transient ischaemic attack or TIA). If the blockage does not clear, areas of your brain will die – known as a stroke. Strokes can lead to death, hemiplegia (paralysis of one side of the body) and other side effects. Narrowing of the large blood vessels in the neck may require surgical removal of the plaque (the equivalent of a plumber unblocking a drain) in what is a fairly risky procedure.

Aneurysm
 
Your blood vessels can become damaged from atherosclerosis. The vessel tends to dilate due to high cholesterol and can even start to leak or burst leading to rapid death.

Kidney failure
 
Damage to the blood vessels supplying your kidneys results in shrinkage and scarring of these vital organs. When this has progressed you’ll have kidney failure. Once you have kidney failure you would require dialysis almost every day and a kidney transplant to survive.

Peripheral vascular disease
 
Damage to the blood vessels supplying your legs, arms and all ‘peripheral’ areas could result in pain on walking, loss of sensation or ‘pins and needles’  in your hands and feet and even gangrene of your digits and limbs.