On another thread Psychobunny made some comments on how keeping atherosclerotic plaque from breaking off was a potential way to prevent heart attacks. It was my understanding that stents, angioplasties, bypass, etc. don’t actually do much to prevent death (though they do stop angina) because plaque can still break off and occlude an artery.
http://www.thennt.com/nnt/coronary-heart-bypass-surgery-for-prevention-of-death/
So is there research on how to keep existing plaques stable and keeping them from breaking apart? What is the current status of research into that?
Also how occluded must an artery be before you experience symptoms like angina? I thought they were pretty efficient and even at 70% blockage (something like that) a person could still be symptom free even when exercising.