Treatment is often in the form of preventative measures of prophylaxis. Drug therapy for underlying conditions, such as drugs for the treatment of high cholesterol, drugs to treat high blood pressure (ACE inhibitors), and anti-coagulant drugs, are often prescribed to help prevent arteriosclerosis. Lifestyle changes such as increasing exercise, stopping smoking, and moderating alcohol intake are also advised. Experimental treatments include senolytic drugs, or drugs that selectively eliminate senescent cells, which enhance vascular reactivity and reduce vascular calcification in a mouse model of atherosclerosis, as well as improving cardiovascular function in old mice.

There are a variety of types of surgery:

- Angioplasty and stent placement: A catheter is first inserted into the blocked/narrowed part of your artery, followed by a second one with a deflated balloon which is passed through the catheter into the narrowed area. The balloon is then inflated, pushing the deposits back against the arterial walls, and then a mesh tube is usually left behind to prevent the artery from retightening.

- Coronary artery bypass surgery: This surgery creates a new pathway for blood to flow to the heart. Taking a healthy piece of vein, the surgeon attaches it to the coronary artery, just above and below the blockage to allow bypass.

- Endarterectomy: This is the general procedure for the surgical removal of plaque from the artery that has become narrowed, or blocked.

- Thrombolytic therapy: is a treatment used to break up masses of plaque inside the arteries via intravenous clot-dissolving medicine.

Medical treatments often focus on alleviating symptoms. However measures which focus on decreasing underlying atherosclerosis—as opposed to simply treating symptoms—are more effective. Non-pharmaceutical means are usually the first method of treatment, such as stopping smoking and practicing regular exercise. If these methods do not work, medicines are usually the next step in treating cardiovascular diseases, and, with improvements, have increasingly become the most effective method over the long term.

The key to the more effective approaches is to combine multiple different treatment strategies. In addition, for those approaches, such as lipoprotein transport behaviors, which have been shown to produce the most success, adopting more aggressive combination treatment strategies taken on a daily basis and indefinitely has generally produced better results, both before and especially after people are symptomatic.

Changes in diet may help prevent the development of atherosclerosis. Tentative evidence suggests that a diet containing dairy products has no effect on or decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease.

A diet high in fruits and vegetables decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease and death. Evidence suggests that the Mediterranean diet may improve cardiovascular results. There is also evidence that a Mediterranean diet may be better than a low-fat diet in bringing about long-term changes to cardiovascular risk factors (e.g., lower cholesterol level and blood pressure).

There are a number of treatment options for coronary artery disease:

- Lifestyle changes

- Medical treatment – drugs (e.g., cholesterol lowering medications, beta-blockers, nitroglycerin, calcium channel blockers, etc.);

- Coronary interventions as angioplasty and coronary stent;

- Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG)

Many approaches have been promoted as methods to reduce or reverse atheroma progression:

- eating a diet of raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, berries, and grains;

- consuming foods containing omega-3 fatty acids such as fish, fish-derived supplements, as well as flax seed oil, borage oil, and other non-animal-based oils;

- abdominal fat reduction;

- aerobic exercise;

- inhibitors of cholesterol synthesis (known as statins);

- low normal blood glucose levels (glycosylated hemoglobin, also called HbA1c);

- micronutrient (vitamins, potassium, and magnesium) consumption;

- maintaining normal, or healthy, blood pressure levels;

- aspirin supplement

- cyclodextrin can solubilize cholesterol, removing it from plaques

Put simply, take steps to live a healthy, sustainable lifestyle.

It is recommended that blood pressure typically be reduced to less than 140/90 mmHg. The diastolic blood pressure however should not be lower than 60 mmHg. Beta blockers are recommended first line for this use.

Treatment includes supportive care with analgesics and anti-inflammatory agents. Exercise should be limited as it increases pain and extends the area of infarction. Symptoms usually resolve in weeks to months, but fifty percent of sufferers will experience relapse in either leg.

Oxygen consumption of skeletal muscle is approximately 50 times larger while contracting than in the resting state. Thus, resting the affected limb should delay onset of infarction substantially after arterial occlusion.

Low molecular weight heparin is used to reduce or at least prevent enlargement of a thrombus, and is also indicated before any surgery. In the legs, below the inguinal ligament, percutaneous aspiration thrombectomy is a rapid and effective way of removing thromboembolic occlusions. Balloon thrombectomy using a Fogarty catheter may also be used. In the arms, balloon thrombectomy is an effective treatment for thromboemboli as well. However, local thrombi from atherosclerotic plaque are harder to treat than embolized ones. If results are not satisfying, another angiography should be performed.

Thrombolysis using analogs of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) may be used as an alternative or complement to surgery. Where there is extensive vascular damage, bypass surgery of the vessels may be necessary to establish other ways to supply the affected parts.

Swelling of the limb may cause inhibited flow by increased pressure, and in the legs (but very rarely in the arms), this may indicate a fasciotomy, opening up all four leg compartments.

Because of the high recurrence rates of thromboembolism, it is necessary to administer anticoagulant therapy as well. Aspirin and low molecular weight heparin should be administered, and possibly warfarin as well. Follow-up includes checking peripheral pulses and the arm-leg blood pressure gradient.

Mönckeberg's arteriosclerosis, or Mönckeberg's sclerosis, also called medial calcific sclerosis or Mönckeberg medial sclerosis, is a form of arteriosclerosis or vessel hardening, where calcium deposits are found in the muscular middle layer of the walls of arteries (the tunica media). It is an example of dystrophic calcification. This condition occurs as an age-related degenerative process. However, it can occur in pseudoxanthoma elasticum and idiopathic arterial calcification of infancy as a pathological condition, as well. Its clinical significance and cause are not well understood and its relationship to atherosclerosis and other forms of vascular calcification are the subject of disagreement.

Mönckeberg's arteriosclerosis is named after Johann Georg Mönckeberg, who first described it in 1903.

Arteriosclerosis is the thickening, hardening and loss of elasticity of the walls of arteries. This process gradually restricts the blood flow to one's organs and tissues and can lead to severe health risks brought on by atherosclerosis, which is a specific form of arteriosclerosis caused by the buildup of fatty plaques, cholesterol, and some other substances in and on the artery walls.

A major aim of treatment is to prevent, limit, or reverse target organ damage by lowering the person's high blood pressure to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and death. Treatment with antihypertensive medications may be required to control the high blood pressure.

Typically, Mönckeberg's arteriosclerosis is not associated with symptoms unless complicated by atherosclerosis, calciphylaxis, or accompanied by some other disease. However presence of Mönckeberg's arteriosclerosis is associated with poorer prognosis. This is probably due to vascular calcification causing increased arterial stiffness, increased pulse pressure and resulting in exaggerated damage to the heart and kidneys.

Type 1 and Type 2 FAD call for the same treatment: immediate surgery to replace the aorta. Surgery is required due to the high risk of mortality. Type 3 is less severe and requires the maintenance of blood pressure through diet and exercise. Upon diagnosing someone with FAD intravenous antihypertensive treatment is frequently used. Often intravenous sodium nitroprusside is used for its efficiency in lessening the pulsatile load thus reducing blood pressure. Reducing this force slows the progression of the dissection. Surgical success depends on age, severity of symptoms, postoperative organ dysfunction and stroke. Surgical intervention is always indicated in Type 1 cases. Aortic surgery is palliative, not curative. The goal is to merely to prevent rupture, restore blood flow, and fix any aortic valve dysfunction. Post operative protocols include frequent monitoring of the aorta diameter. Statins and beta blockers are also popular treatments used to reduce future plaque build up and blockage of epinephrine receptors as a way to control heart rate and blood pressure.

Long term treatment should also include regular check ups every 3 to 6 months. A CT scan or MRI is recommended, along with required chest x-rays. Antihypertensive therapy with beta adrenergic antagonists is required regardless of medical versus surgical treatment. Ten to twenty percent of those who choose surgical intervention are re-operated on due to compression, aneurysm development or blood leakage.

An atheroma is a reversible accumulation of degenerative material in the inner layer of an artery wall. The material consists of mostly macrophage cells, or debris, containing lipids, calcium and a variable amount of fibrous connective tissue. The accumulated material forms a swelling in the artery wall, which may intrude into the channel of the artery, narrowing it and restricting blood flow. Atheroma occurs in atherosclerosis, which is one of the three subtypes of arteriosclerosis (which are atherosclerosis, Monckeberg's arteriosclerosis and arteriolosclerosis).

In the context of heart or artery matters, atheromata are commonly referred to as atheromatous plaques. It is an unhealthy condition found in most humans.

Veins do not develop atheromata, because they are not subjected to the same hemodynamic pressure that arteries are, unless surgically moved to function as an artery, as in bypass surgery. The accumulation (swelling) is always in the tunica intima, between the endothelium lining and the smooth muscle middle layer of the artery wall. While the early stages, based on gross appearance, have traditionally been termed fatty streaks by pathologists, they are not composed of fat cells but of accumulations of white blood cells, especially macrophages, that have taken up oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL). After they accumulate large amounts of cytoplasmic membranes (with associated high cholesterol content) they are called foam cells. When foam cells die, their contents are released, which attracts more macrophages and creates an extracellular lipid core near the center to inner surface of each atherosclerotic plaque. Conversely, the outer, older portions of the plaque become more calcified, less metabolically active and more physically stiff over time.

Arteriolosclerosis is a form of cardiovascular disease involving hardening and loss of elasticity of arterioles or small arteries and is most often associated with hypertension and diabetes mellitus.

Types include hyaline arteriolosclerosis and hyperplastic arteriolosclerosis, both involved with vessel wall thickening and luminal narrowing that may cause downstream ischemic injury.

The following two terms whilst similar, are distinct in both spelling and meaning and may easily be confused with arteriolosclerosis.

- Arteriosclerosis is a general term describing any hardening (and loss of elasticity) of medium or large arteries (from the Greek "arteria", meaning "artery", and "", meaning "hardening")

- Atherosclerosis is a hardening of an artery specifically due to an atheromatous plaque. The term "atherogenic" is used for substances or processes that cause atherosclerosis.

Currently, there is controversy over whether or not inheritance truly plays a role in FAD, and if so which gene it acts upon. FAD does not come from strictly one predisposing factor, such as hypertension. It is suggested that the combination of environmental factors along with genetics may contribute to causing FAD. Before newer and more effective cures and therapies can be developed, first the specific gene mutation must be identified. Until such a gene is determined, scientists say patient education, and physician awareness is vital. Currently scientists have found animal models to be beneficial in understanding the pathology behind FAD. In the future there is hope to develop drugs that will better support and strengthen the aortic wall. Endovascular methods of treatment are becoming increasingly popular, and scientists hope to use this technique in both acute and chronic cases.

Also arterial hyalinosis and arteriolar hyalinosis refers to thickening of the walls of arterioles by the deposits that appear as homogeneous pink hyaline material in routine staining. It is a type of arteriolosclerosis, which refers to thickening of the arteriolar wall and is part of the ageing process.

- Associations

It is associated with aging, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and may be seen in response to certain drugs (calcineurin inhibitors).

It is often seen in the context of kidney pathology. In hypertension only the afferent arteriole is affected, while in diabetes mellitus, both the afferent and efferent arteriole are affected.

- Cause

Lesions reflect leakage of plasma components across vascular endothelium and excessive extracellular matrix production by smooth muscle cells, usually secondary to hypertension.

Hyaline arteriolosclerosis is a major morphologic characteristic of benign nephrosclerosis, in which the arteriolar narrowing causes diffuse impairment of renal blood supply, with loss of nephrons. The narrowing of the lumen can decrease renal blood flow and hence glomerular filtration rate leading to increased renin secretion and a perpetuating cycle with increasing blood pressure and decreasing kidney function.

With treatment, approximately 80% of patients are alive (approx. 95% after surgery) and approximately 70% of infarcted limbs remain vital after 6 months.

Macrovascular disease is a disease of any large ("macro") blood vessels in the body. It is a disease of the large blood vessels, including the coronary arteries, the aorta, and the sizable arteries in the brain and in the limbs.

This sometimes occurs when a person has had diabetes for an extended period of time. Fat and blood clots build up in the large blood vessels and stick to the vessel walls.

Three common macrovascular diseases are coronary disease (in the heart), cerebrovascular disease (in the brain), and peripheral vascular disease (in the limbs)

Macrovascular disease (macroangiopathy) refers to atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is a form of arteriosclerosis (thickening and hardening of arterial walls), characterized by plaque deposits of lipids, fibrous connective tissue, calcium, and other blood substances. Atherosclerosis, by definition, affects only medium and large arteries (excluding arterioles).

Macrovascular disease is associated with the development of coronary artery disease, peripheral vascular disease, brain attack (stroke), and increased risk of infection. Type 2 diabetes is more closely associated with macrovascular diseases than type 1 diabetes. Peripheral vascular disease and increased risk of infection have important implications in the care of the acutely ill patient.

Arterial stiffness occurs as a consequence of biological aging and arteriosclerosis. Inflammation plays a major role in arteriosclerosis development, and consequently it is a major contributor in large arteries stiffening. Increased arterial stiffness is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events such as myocardial infarction and stroke, the two leading causes of death in the developed world. The World Health Organisation predicts that in 2010, cardiovascular disease will also be the leading killer in the developing world and represents a major global health problem.

Several degenerative changes that occur with age in the walls of large elastic arteries are thought to contribute to increased stiffening over time, including the mechanical fraying of lamellar elastin structures within the wall due to repeated cycles of mechanical stress; changes in the kind and increases in content of arterial collagen proteins, partially as a compensatory mechanism against the loss of arterial elastin and partially due to fibrosis; and crosslinking of adjacent collagen fibers by advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs).

The pathogenesis of this disease is unclear. Arteriosclerosis obliterans has been postulated as the cause, along with errors of the clotting and fibrinolytic pathways such as antiphospholipid syndrome.

When the heart contracts it generates a pulse or energy wave that travels through the circulatory system. The speed of travel of this pulse wave (pulse wave velocity (PWV)) is related to the stiffness of the arteries. Other terms that are used to describe the mechanical properties of arteries include elastance, or the reciprocal (inverse) of elastance, compliance. The relationship between arterial stiffness and pulse wave velocity was first predicted by Thomas Young in his Croonian Lecture of 1808 but is generally described by the Moens–Korteweg equation or the Bramwell–Hill equation. Typical values of PWV in the aorta range from approximately 5 m/s to >15 m/s.

Measurement of aortic PWV provides some of the strongest evidence concerning the prognostic significance of large artery stiffening. Increased aortic PWV has been shown to predict cardiovascular, and in some cases all cause, mortality in individuals with end stage renal failure, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and in the general population. However, at present, the role of measurement of PWV as a general clinical tool remains to be established. Devices are on the market that measure arterial stiffness parameters (augmentation index, pulse wave velocity). These include the Complior, CVProfilor, PeriScope, Hanbyul Meditech, Mobil-O-Graph NG, BP Plus (Pulsecor), PulsePen, BPLab Vasotens, Arteriograph, Vascular Explorer, and SphygmoCor.

Arteriosclerosis obliterans is an occlusive arterial disease most prominently affecting the abdominal aorta and the small- and medium-sized arteries of the lower extremities, which may lead to absent dorsalis pedis, posterior tibial, and/or popliteal artery pulses.

It is characterized by fibrosis of the tunica intima and calcification of the tunica media.

Binswanger's disease has no cure and has been shown to be the most severe impairment of all of the vascular dementias. The best way to manage the vascular risk factors that contribute to poor perfusion in the brain is to treat the cause, such as chronic hypertension or diabetes. It has been shown that current Alzheimer’s medication, donepezil (trade name Aricept), may help Binswanger’s Disease patients as well . Donepezil increases the acetylcholine in the brain through a choline esterase inhibitor which deactivates the enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine. Alzheimer as well as Binswanger patients have low levels of acetylcholine and this helps to restore the normal levels of neurotransmitters in the brain. This drug may improve memory, awareness, and the ability to function. If no medical interception of the disease is performed then the disease will continue to worsen as the patient ages due to the continuing atrophy of the white matter from whatever was its original cause.

Pseudohypertension, also known as pseudohypertension in the elderly, noncompressibility artery syndrome, and Osler's sign of pseudohypertension is a falsely elevated blood pressure reading obtained through sphygmomanometry due to calcification of blood vessels which cannot be compressed. There is normal blood pressure when it is measured from within the artery. This condition however is associated with significant cardiovascular disease risk.

Because the stiffened arterial walls of arteriosclerosis do not compress with pressure normally, the blood pressure reading is theoretically higher than the true intra-arterial measurement.

To perform the test, one first inflates the blood pressure cuff above systolic pressure to obliterate the radial pulse. One then attempts to palpate the radial artery, a positive test is if it remains palpable as a firm "tube".

It occurs frequently in the elderly irrespective of them being hypertensive, and has moderate to modest intraobserver and interobserver agreement. It is also known as "Osler's maneuver".

The sign is named for William Osler.