In 1999 I had an angioplasty for plaque in my descending aorta (in England). It worked great. My blood pressure fell from 220/150 to 120/80 afterward even though I still had calcified plaque in my left femoral artery. The surgeon wanted to do femoral bypass for that and I refused. In 2005 I had a vascular surgeon do an angiogram and heart catheterization on me. No coronary plaque was found but new plaque was in my right femoral artery. He didn't even try to do an angioplasty. The surgeon wanted to do an aortobifemoal bypass on me. BIG MISTAKE on my part on not asking him to try an angioplasty on the right femoral artery when he did the angiogram. Obviously he wanted to do this horredous very invasive surgery which was his specialty. I refused his suggestion and went back to good nutrition, upper body exercise, aggressive statin usage, omega-3 fish oils, pomegranate juice and coenzyme Q10 with other vitamins. I was forced into retirement from medical research because of atherosclerosis so I'm keeping up to date. All the research evidence over the last few years shows that plaque progression can be stopped by lowering LDL-cholesterol below 70 mg/dL and the risk of heart attack and stroke is minimal by lowering C-reactive protein below 0.1 mg/dL. Both these can be achieved with high dose statins and omega-3 fish oils. The recently finished multi-center ASTEROID clinical studies showed that when LDL-cholesterol was lowered below 60 mg/dL two thirds of patients with coronary plaque experienced regression of plaque. In a recent webcast Dr. Steven Nissen, the leading expert who is at the Cleveland Clinic, said that in patients with the lowest levels of LDL-cholesterol achieved regression was the fastest and that some patients who achieved levels in the teens and below did not have serious side effects. It's a known fact that rare genetically fortunate individuals with LDL-cholesterol levels in the twenties never get atherosclerosis. Dr. Nissen is intending investigating even lower level LDL-cholesterol objectives. I write about these things in my domain on web page http://www.erinpharm.org/erinpharm_central.html. I for one intend to stay well away from the surgeons knife and follow the research results. I'm not going to wait for another decade of clinical trials to validate beyond doubt to the satisfaction of the FDA and AMA. I'm convinced bypass and stenting surgery should be only for emergency situations and that aggressive treament with statins and omega-3 fish oils with lifestyle changes should be the first option. So yeh, go for the angioplasty. It works. But stay away from the surgeons knife until going the medical/lifestyle change first. I'm still walking and gardening seven years later, no sign of angina, no heart attack, not even a TIA. I still have a long way to go I know but I'm slowly improving and I'm heading lower to the twenties for my LDL-cholesterol. I smoked several packs of cigarettes a day until March when Chantix helped me give it up. (Foolish I know and it really hindered my progress but I was terribly addicted). Onward and forward. I've avoided the surgeon's knife for seven years - for after all that is irreversible and the beginning of a downward trend leading to more surgery in later years. I didn't want that. I want to live a long time, maybe even recover, maybe even return to work. DeBakey has just recovered from an aortic aneurysm and is back at work and he is in his nineties. May we all follow his example.

Nice thank you for sharing I have had 3 stints in 2010..Now I can stand for more then 3 minutes walking is not an option..they tell me Triple bypass..But doc tells me my cholesterol is at 70 perfect he said..im on simastatin 80 mg, plus 2 beta blockers and asprin..gained 40 pounds since stints put in..any advice I need help?

Sean, what is the best way to reverse atherosclerosis? I'm not on statins. My cholestreol is normal. I take a fish oil supplement daily.
Thanks.

Sean, I am curious about one thing: do the side-effects of statins worry you?
I had an angioplasty just last week after fainting three times with no warning or apparent reason. I feel pretty well, just tired. Too soon to tell if the surgery did anything about my fainting.

To the most recent post, the side effects of statins are something to be very worried about, there are plenty of natural alternatives out there. More specifically the combination of garlic and coq10 have a lot of overwhelming evidence to benefit atherosclerosis, blood pressure, and cholesterol.

https://support.nucardia.com/hc/en-us/articles/219943547-Garlic-and-CoQ10-Atherosclerosis-Trial

https://support.nucardia.com/hc/en-us/articles/219943647-Koscielny-s-Antiatherosclerotic-Trial

https://support.nucardia.com/hc/en-us/articles/219942387-Budoff-s-Pilot-Study

They tried angioplasty on me, but the plaque was too solid. They had to do an aortobifemoal bypass instead. I had several blockages in the left side of the graft during the year following the surgery. I now monitor my own INR and we adjust my coumadin as needed. I try to eat a healthy diet and exercise as much as possible. I have another condition that limits my mobility. We check my blood flow and pressures often, and for seven years now, they have been great. I don't like statins. I do take garlic and CoQ10.