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They start to secrete renin and substances that trigger other changes: New nerves grow like weeds; immature smooth muscle cells build up; scars form around the tiny blood vessels, called arterioles; and inflammatory cells infiltrate.

Their study found that smooth muscle cells that normally line the inside of our arteries migrate into atherosclerotic plaques, change their cell identity, activate cancer genes, and proliferate inside the plaques.

"We discovered that our genetic makeup impacts the ways smooth muscle cells secrete proteins that provide strength to plaques and prevent them from rupturing and causing heart attacks and strokes."

But in roughly half of patients, the protein also extensively replaces the smooth muscle of blood vessel walls, rendering them brittle.

She had an ultrasound and a CT scan and was told she had leiomyosarcoma, which begins in smooth muscle tissue.