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Heart attacks and angina are often caused by very different types of arterial plaque. Angina is generally caused by hard, relatively stable plaque that visibly blocks the artery. In the case of a heart attack, the major cause is soft plaques hidden within the arterial wall that are “vulnerable” to rupture. This rupture releases a liquid pool of various types of cholesterol and other debris into the blood stream that can form a blood clot, blocking blood flow to the heart and causing a heart attack. In fact, recent data have shown that vulnerable plaque rupture causes as many as 85% of all heart attacks1.