LysoSENS research currently targets an early precursor of atherosclerosis, the most important cause of cardiovascular disease and stroke, the country's leading and third greatest killers.
Atherosclerotic plaques can cause strokes in two ways. They can grow large enough on the vascular wall to kill brain tissue from lack of blood flow (thrombotic). They can also rupture in any large or medium-sized artery throughout the body and travel to the brain (embolic). Both types are ischemic, i.e. a blood vessel is obstructed. Ischemic strokes make up 85-90% of all strokes.
Because atherosclerosis can kill both through heart failure and brain tissue death, it kills more Americans than cancer. By 2020 it is expected to be the leading killer worldwide.
Therefore by targeting atherosclerosis, LysoSENS plans to kill two birds with one stone. This is characteristic of ENS strategies, which aim to exploit the common precursors of age-related diseases -- treating age-related diseases not as distinct disorders, but rather as a collection of syndromes tied together by a few common threads.
