There are two common forms of vascular disease, atherosclerosis and arteriosclerosis. We will first consider atherosclerosis. This is plaque formation on the inside or the arterial system. It has an entirely different causation than arteriosclerosis which is diffuse hardening of the arteries.

There are several known, and easily avoided, risk factors at work in the creation of atherosclerosis. While inflammation and subsequent damage of the intima are the causes of plaque formation, there are several factors which will then accelerate the process. Foremost are the so-called "trans-fats" found in junk foods. Next is oxidized cholesterol (from cooked, i.e., pasteurized, milk and other animal foods cooked in open air). Then the relative absence of antioxidants, such as vitamins A, C and E, and high levels of homocysteine (a condition easily prevented with vitamins B6, B 12 and folate) are important contributing factors. Tobacco smoke drains the body's resources of antioxidants, particularly vitamin C, and further accelerates atherosclerosis. If you know and apply these facts from an early age, there is no reason for atherosclerosis to ever develop in your body. To know and apply these facts, you have to be willing to think for yourself and ah, there is the reason atherosclerosis will continue to kill people. Maybe the good do die young but so do the uninformed and dogmatic.