Artherosclerosis is a disease which causes a build up of plaque deposits over the walls of the arteries.
Plaques which are in the later stages called clots (Thrombus for a stationary, or Embolism for one that breaks off) are build ups of cellular debris, platelets, and fats that actually form when a wound forms on the artery wall. Unfortunately these buildups catch other cellular debris as well, which eventually reach a point of so much occlusion that blood flow to an area distal of the blockage begins to lack proper perfusion and starts to die, which is known as ischemia, before progressing to death or Infarction. Cholesterol which tend to be a free moving component in blood greatly contributes to the build up of plaque, by having an affinity to being caught in the buildup.
