Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Causes
By Mayo Clinic staff
Normal, healthy carotid arteries — like any other healthy artery — are smooth and flexible and provide a clear pathway for blood flow. If you place a finger under your jawbone, on either side of your Adam's apple, you're likely to feel your carotid artery pulse. Your carotid arteries carry oxygen- and nutrient-rich blood to your cerebral cortex and other vital brain structures, which are responsible for your day-to-day functioning.
Over time, however, the carotid arteries can become stiff and narrow due to a gradual accumulation of plaques, a process called atherosclerosis. Plaques consist of clumps of cholesterol, calcium, fibrous tissue and other cellular debris that gather at microscopic injury sites within the artery. When a lot of these plaques accumulate, narrowing the carotid artery and substantially restricting blood flow, doctors label this as carotid artery disease.
- Lee JT, et al. Peripheral arterial disease. In: Rakel RE, et al. Conn's Current Therapy 2008. 60th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/151488178-7/866918859/1621/197.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-4435-2..50101-1_1467. Accessed July 23, 2009.
- Riles TS, et al. Cerebrovascular disease. In: Townsend CM, et al. Sabiston Textbook of Surgery. 18th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/151488178-3/866914256/1565/622.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-3675-3..50068-X--cesec4_3762. Accessed July 23, 2009.
- Schwartz JB, et al. Vascular disease. In: Libby P, et al., eds. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007.http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=bookPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-4106-1..50078-9--cesec28&uniq=151488178&isbn=978-1-4160-4106-1&sid=866915121#lpState=open&lpTab=contentsTab&content=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-4106-1..50078-9--cesec95%3Bfrom%3Dtoc%3Btype%3DbookPage%3Bisbn%3D978-1-4160-4106-1. Accessed July 23, 2009.
- Carotid artery disease. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/catd/catd_whatis.html. Accessed July 23, 2009.
- Carotid artery disease, stroke, transient ischemic attacks (TIAs). Society for Vascular Surgery. http://www.vascularweb.org/patients/NorthPoint/Carotid_Artery_Disease.html. Accessed July 23, 2009.
- Furie KL, et al. Secondary prevention of stroke: Risk factor reduction. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 23, 2009.
- Angioplasty and vascular stenting. Radiological Society of North America. http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=angioplasty. Accessed Aug. 28, 2009.
- Questions and answers about carotid endarterectomy. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/stroke/carotid_endarterectomy_backgrounder.htm. Accessed Aug. 12, 2009.
- Greelish JP, et al. Carotid angioplasty and stenting. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 23, 2009.
- Greelish JP, et al. Carotid endarterectomy: Preoperative evaluation; surgical technique; and complications. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 23, 2009.
- Sodium. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4708. Accessed July 23, 2009.
- Stop smoking: Resources and tools for quitting. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3038010. Accessed July 23, 2009.
- Rundek T, et al. Risk factor management to prevent first stroke. Neurologic Clinics.2008;26:1007.
