Gut bacteria may affect cardiovascular risk

Antioxidant-producing microbes may keep atherosclerotic plaques in place

Though atherosclerosis is an artery problem, microscopic denizens of the intestines may play a surprising role in how the disease plays out.

A new study suggests that different mixes of intestinal microbes may determine whether people will have heart attacks or strokes brought on by break-away plaque from the arteries.