What do you believe is the single most important factor driving up the cost of living in Nigeria?

The research is published in the journal Nature Communications.

"There are two different things that people seem to be scared of when it comes to plaques," said Bryan Smith, an associate professor with the Department of Biomedical Engineering in the College of Engineering and MSU's Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering. "Many people don't really understand the difference between them."

The first example is when your artery becomes blocked (for example, a 95% to 99% blockage). Often, there are symptoms like pain or pressure in the chest or nausea and dizziness beforehand and doctors will put a stent in the artery to increase blood flow. The second is when the plaque is highly inflammatory. This can make the plaque vulnerable to rupture, which can lead to artery blockages elsewhere in the body.

"That's the scarier one that leads to most heart attacks," said Smith. "Because such plaques don't necessarily block much of the artery, and because the effects of the rupture can very suddenly completely block blood flow, such a heart attack can seem to appear as if from nowhere."

• Read More