Other drugs already are under review, for conditions including insomnia and hardening of the arteries.

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Heart disease due to atherosclerosis, also known as hardening of the arteries, is a critical problem for children with progeria.

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And general atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, heart attack, and heart failure.

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Free radicals alter cholesterol in a process known as oxidation, which is thought to speed up the hardening of the arteries.

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But perhaps the most worrying of all these findings is the suspected link between Chlamydia pneumoniae and atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).

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The biggest experiment, with 289 patients, used ultrasound on the neck to test whether drinking pomegranate juice reduced hardening of the arteries in heart patients.

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Hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) may also result, she adds.

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An international research team of cardiologists, radiologists and archeologists used CT scanners to evaluate the mummies, hunting for deposits of calcium in arterial walls that are a telltale sign of hardening of the arteries that can lead to heart attacks and strokes.

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The medical examiner's office first ruled Khan's death had been caused by a hardening of his arteries, but the case was reopened after a concerned relative suggested he may have been poisoned, prosecutors said.

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In fact, in 2008 a study using ultrasound images of arteries failed to show that the combination of Zetia and simvastatin prevented artery hardening any better than simvastatin alone.

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