Atherosclerosis Happens Rapidly and Late
Many of the characteristic signs and conditions of aging arrive in a rush in later life. The buildup to that point has been going on for a while, but there is a threshold past which matters suddenly accelerate. Here is one example: researchers "have determined the age of atherosclerotic plaques by taking advantage of Carbon-14 (14C) residues in the atmosphere, prevailing after the extensive atomic bomb tests in the 50ties and 60ties. The findings, published in the scientific online journal PLoS ONE, suggest that in most people plaque formation occurs during a relatively short and late time period in life of 3-5 years. ... We suspected that the plaque would be substantially younger than the patients, who were on average were 68 years old at surgery, but we were surprised when we found that the average age of these plaques was less than 10 years. ... If proven true, the growth of atherosclerotic lesions may be interrupted to prevent clinical manifestation, like [stroke], even in late stages of life, at 60 years of age or possibly later. ... The age of plaques was also found to be associated to blood levels of insulin, and plaques with lower age (formed more recently) were found to be more unstable than older plaques and therefore more likely to cause clinical complications." All of which is characteristic of a suddenly runaway process.
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