Dr. Bhatt ("Reduce It" investigator) on the role of inflammation in heart attack and stroke
Dr Bhatt is prinicpal investigator for "Reduce It" he is quoted below
"Exactly how inflammation plays a role in heart attack and stroke remains a topic of ongoing research," added Deepak Bhatt, M.D. "It appears that the inciting event in many heart attacks and some forms of stroke is buildup of fatty, cholesterol-rich plaque in blood vessels."
Bhatt is chief of cardiology for the VA Boston Healthcare System, director of the Integrated Interventional Cardiovascular Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital & VA Boston Healthcare System, and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
"The body perceives this plaque as abnormal and foreign — it does not belong in a healthy blood vessel," he said. "In response, the body tries to wall off the plaque from the flowing blood. However, under the wrong set of circumstances, that plaque may rupture, and its walled-off contents can come into contact with blood and trigger a blood clot formation."
Bhatt added, "This combination of plaque and blood clots causes the majority of heart attacks and certain types of stroke, if the blood clot obstructs blood flow to the heart or brain."
An artery to the heart that’s blocked causes a heart attack. A blocked artery in or leading to the brain causes an ischemic stroke. Source;