Carotid Artery Disease

Carotid artery disease is the leading cause of strokes. Carotid arteries are the two large blood vessels in your neck that supply blood to your brain. When these arteries become clogged with cholesterol, they become dangerously narrow. If a blood clot occurs in the carotid arteries, then blood cannot reach your brain. A stroke can result.

Warning signs

There are often no symptoms of carotid artery disease. Sometimes it is discovered after a physician hears an abnormal sound with a stethoscope called a bruit. However, there are several kinds of carotid artery screenings. including one that uses non-invasive ultrasound.

Risk factors

The risk factors for carotid artery disease are:

• Family history of carotid artery disease or coronary artery disease
• Age
• Smoking
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes
• High cholesterol

Getting preventive carotid artery screenings is a way to identify your risk and work to reduce it. You can also do so by eliminating or controlling any of the arterial-disease risk factors listed above.

Diagnosis and screening

There are often no symptoms of carotid artery disease, but there are tests that determine if you have it. Life Line Screening offers several carotid artery screenings to help you determine your risk of the disease:

• Carotid artery disease screening
• Atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat) screening
• Complete lipid panel screening
• Glucose screening
• C-reactive protein screening

Interested in learning more about arterial disease? Read our FAQs.