Atherosclerosis is a disease which causes thickening and plaque build up within arteries, a type of blood vessels. This may lead to a complete closure of the vessel causing decreased blood flow to the organs affected. Atherosclerosis is thus known to cause heart attacks and/or strokes. Many factors have been identified which may put a person at higher risk of developing this disease. These include increased age, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes mellitus (body’s inability to properly process the sugar in the blood), as well as abnormal lipids in the blood stream. In addition, new risk factors for this disease development are emerging. These include various bacterial and viral infections, air pollution, other conditions in which the body produces an increased inflammatory response.
Atherosclerosis severity is sometimes measured using a type of imagining called ultrasound, while looking at the arteries in the neck known as the carotid arteries. There, the wall thickness can be measured more accurately, given an estimate on the severity of this disease and prediction of disease progression.
Our project uses the data from the UK BioBank, a database that includes numerous health-related variables from approximately half a million of UK inhabitants, including data such as ultrasound images.
We will be using the carotid vessel thickness in identifying atherosclerosis disease severity and assessing whether other factors may play a role on the atherosclerosis disease development. With the current COVID-19 virus pandemic, we also plan to see whether people who present with a more severe atherosclerotic disease are at a greater risk of infection and worse recovery outcomes when diagnosed with COVID-19, and whether these patients are more likely to have major complications following the infection.
We hope to look whether the following factors may play a role in the development of atherosclerosis:
-exercise
-what the person eats, how often and how much
-any other illnesses including mental health
-social supports from family and friends
-employment and level of education
Based on our research findings, we will develop an equation to help predict patients at the highest risk of atherosclerosis disease development and those who may also be vulnerable to COVID-19. In the future, this might allow health acre providers to identify patients that are at the highest risk of atherosclerosis disease development and poor COVID-19 prognosis (outcomes), and who may subsequently need to be monitored more closely or use better protective equipment to prevent infection.