Atherosclerosis symptoms are not due to pain produced by a partially obstructed artery, but to an inadequate amount of blood received by the arteries’ tissues. The severity of symptoms depends on the extent of the blockage or narrowing, on whether there are alternate arterial branches, and on the tissues’ demand for oxygen.

Symptoms of blocked arteries occur under stress, when a greater blood supply is needed than when a person is relaxed.  Symptoms are particularly evident in blocked arteries of the lower extremities in which feelings of heaviness, pain and cramping appear during walking. This is why atherosclerotic patients are likely to stop frequently when they walk.

Because of the way nerves are connected to the heart, it is not always easy to pinpoint the exact cause of the pain.A patient may often describe a cardiac condition as indigestion or ”a feeling of pressure” in the stomach or inside the chest, which radiates in the neck, the jaw or the left arm.

At times pain is severe, but at other times it may simply seem like a muscle contraction. This wide variation can affect a doctor’s diagnosis, may cause its delay or, even worse, lead to a misdiagnosed condition. Usually, the first symptom is an attack characterized by pain in the chest (angina pectoris). With narrowing of the intestinal arteries, pain may be acute (stabbing pain) and sudden.  In cerebral atherosclerosis (narrowing of the brain’s arteries) there are usually no signs of blockage until an artery is completely obstructed.