What is atherosclerosis linked to?

Atherosclerosis: Atherosclerosis is a fancy name for disease of the arteries: risk factors are: genetics (your parents :-)), smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity. There are other, secondary risks that are determined by specialized blood tests.

Lipoproteins, BG, BP: Age (older worse), sex (male worse), LDL and HDL lipoprotein (fat carrying protein) particle concentrations (not cholesterol per-se), blood glucose and blood pressure, along with smoking, obesity, inactivity, living longer (it typically starts in childhood), smoking, eating process foods (esp. High glycemic index foods), ongoing debate about fat (esp.Processed fat) in foods, etc. See nusi.Org.