I agree pamojja, that's really why I asked the question. I have met with one scientist who was actually researching certain factors in the blood that 'pull' or attract macrophages into the artery (extremely simplistic description on my part) and while it would be pharmaceutical, it was trying to answer the question of what intervention could stop that process of macrophage build up and therefore plaque (again very simple description from me and I'm not doing it justice really).
I'd support any research, even nutritional research, but just lifestyle changes isn't, in my view, finding the answer for why this process happens in some people. My paternal family have a history of sudden heart attacks, many with a very active lifestyle and good nutrition and normal cholesterol and bp levels. I'm totally behind the lifestyle aspect and am mainly vegan myself and active and have studied a lot of the nutritional work. But with people dying year after year from this I feel there needs to be support for more research into the cause and therefore prevention and it's my hunch that lifestyle doesn't have all the answers needed. My maternal family eat rubbish, pies, fish and chips, burgers, they smoke, they're not active, the opposite of my paternal family, and yet they all live into their 90's. I'm not saying that's advisable, just that clearly there are other mechanisms at play also.
Also women are protected from heart disease compared to men and it's thought to be due to oestrogen but I can't find any researchers that talk about mechanisms behind these things in any more depth.
Edited by Rosanna, 10 May 2020 - 12:30 PM.