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Atherosclerosis is damage to the walls of the arteries which gradually worsens. The inner part of the wall is strewn with areas that are more or less flexible or solid. These areas correspond to what doctors call atheromatous plaques that impede the passage of blood.

Atheromatous plaques: These are fatty deposits located in the part of the wall closest to where the blood flows. These deposits are covered by a fibrous capsule that is more or less thick and therefore more or less solid. Cholesterol is the main component of atherosclerotic plaques.

Atherosclerosis can affect all arteries in the human body. In the arteries that feed the heart, the coronary arteries, atherosclerosis puts the heart at risk of coronary artery disease, a term that means that the coronary arteries have become unable to supply the right amount of blood to the heart under the right circumstances.