Health Council of South Florida

How do cardiovascular & stroke risks relate? Both heart attack and stroke occur when blood flow is interrupted due to damage in the blood vessels and organ tissue. If blood can't get to the heart, that leads to a heart attack; if blood can't get to the brain, that leads to a stroke. In each case, the top culprit is atherosclerosis, a buildup of plaque in the arteries that narrows the space through which blood can flow. If a person has a lot of plaque in her arteries and a bl