Pathophysiological aspects of atherosclerosis and regular physical activity as non-pharmacological method in its control

Abstract

Mortality from cardiovascular diseases increases with age and from the 50 years of age it happens to be the largest and the leading cause of deaths in Brazil. Atherosclerosis is one of those diseases showing different risk factors. It is a chronic degenerative disease, of slow progression, with periods of activity and quiescence in which the involvement of different vascular locations and not uniform. This review is a description of the pathophysiological aspects of atherosclerosis and the regular practice of physical activities as non-pharmacological method in its control. The survey was conducted from a review of specialized literature, scientific articles published between the years of 1994 until the most current 2013 were consulted and using Portuguese and English descriptors alone or in combination: Atherosclerosis, physical activity, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and additionally the academic books query the completion of the research, as well as cross-references of the articles selected. The atherosclerotic disease may have started in young people with a long period of silent progression being important to the strengthening of non-pharmacological prevention measures as the regular practice of physical activities, early identification of people with increased risk for the development of this pathology and special attention to risk factors modifiable and non-modifiable.