If a person has CV disease with arterial plaquing and blocked coronarys suppose you starved them severely?

Question

until they were skeletal. To the point where almost all fat was gone and they were burning their muscles and organs for fuel. Like the Jewish people in the concentration camps that were skin and bones. Do you think that eventually the material within the coronary arteries and the systemic arterial plaquing would reduce as it was used for glucose synthesis? Do you think CV disease in arteries may be somewhat or greatly reversable via severe long term starvation?

Answer 1

it's never been studied, but if I had to guess it would probably reduce the plaquing on arterial walls.

However since the person was being starved, it would be somewhat of a mute point since their liver (which gets rid of the plaques components in the blood stream) and heart would fail from starvation, so you might slightly reduce one aspect of heart disease, but die from it anyways.

The biggest dietary therapy I have found to be effective is completely cutting chlorine from one's diet (including getting a shower filter).  It's not that commonly talked about, but it's my opinion chlorination of water is the primary cause of athersclerosis.

There are plenty of dietary therapies which work (ie less meat and junk food, more fresh vegatables), and I'd definitely wager a decent diet is much more effective than starvation.

Who knows though, if you can set up the study you're welcome to find out what happens!

Answer 2

The aterial plaquing is not actually fat stuck to the wall of the artery. Its a fibrous scar tissue that forms.

Arterial plaques initially form when LDL cholesterol is adheres to the wall of an artery. Then macrophages (a type of white blood cell) engulf them in an effort to remove the LDL. The macrophages releases an oxidative burst which oxidises the cholesterol, and becomes a foam cell. This foam cell is large and causes damage to the arterial wall. When the arterial wall heals a scar forms.

Its not actually fat stuck to the arterial wall. You cant use it for energy. Fat is not converted to glucose anyway. Fat is converted to ketone bodies (2x acetone) in the process of b-oxidation.

Starvation is not the solution to any problem. Least of all CVD. one you have plaques, they are there for good.

Answer 3

That is a really-off the wall hypothesis.

A man with cardiovascular disease and

arterial plaqueing and blocked coronaries is

about 95% dead already.

  Then you want to subject this person to

starvation?  How long do you think he would

last?

  Plus, if you do anything to make that

plaque break off in chunks, the first one

to hit a major artery or his lung, he's dead!!

  Please.  You have an investigative mind

and should probably be in Research, BUT

this idea is really whacko.

  Ask yourself, how many young and healthy

people actually made it out alive after

being starved--to death in the concentration camps?    You have forgotten something.  It doesn't take long for "long-term starvation" to kill a person.