My case sounds quite similar to that of your friend. I have essential hypertension and elevated blood glucose for many years and was diagnosed with arteriosclerosis and clogging of the arteries about 2 years ago. Prior to that, my cardiologist already had me on statins to reduce my cholesterol and I was on maintenance medication for my hypertension. After the diagnosis, my cardiologist suggested that I go for an angiogram and maybe an angioplasty whereby they will put a stent into the clogged artery. After doing some research and finding out that most bypass and angioplasty patients have a recurrence within 5 to 10 years of their procedure, I was determined to look for other alternatives as I felt that such recurrence rate probably meant that they were barking up the wrong tree. Anyway, to cut the story short, I tried a chinese herbal decoction for 30 days instead and followed this up with Dr. Rath's and Dr. Paulings recommendation of high doses of vitamin C and L-Lysine and L-Proline. I also, took systemic enzymes which is said to dissolve fibrin in the plaque that's clogging the arteries. I still have hypertension and elevated blood glucose but am now able to do exercises and strenuous activities without panting and running out of breath. I also don't feel a heaviness on my chest anymore like I use to.
Dr. Rath's research says that it is a variant of LDL, called the Lp(a), that causes the build up of the plaque. Taking statins will not help as statins will not affect Lp(a).
Let me quote from Dr. Rath's book "Why Animals Don't get Heart Attack - But People Do.":
" A New Understanding of the Nature of Heart Disease
1. Lesions: The main cause of cardiovascular disease is the instability and dysfunction of the blood vessel wall caused by chronic vitamin (C) deficiency. This leads to millions of small lesions and cracks in the artery wall, particularly in the coronary arteries. The coronary arteries are mechanically the most stressed arteries because they are squeezed flat from the pumping action of the heart more than 100,000 times per day, which is similar to a garden hose being (constantly) stepped on.
2. Beginning Repair: Repair of the artery walls becomes necessary. Cholesterol and other repair factors are produced at an increased rate in the liver and transported in the blood stream to the artery walls, which they enter in order to mend and repair the damage. Because the coronary arteries sustain the most damage, they require the most intensive repair.
3. On Going Repair: With continued vitamin deficiency over many years, the repair process in the artery walls overcompensates. Atherosclerotic plaques form predominantly at those locations in the cardiovascular system needing the most intensive repair: the coronary arteries. This is why infarctions occur primarily at this very same location and why most frequent cardiovascular events are infarctions of the heart, not infarctions of the nose or ears."
So, from Dr. Rath's research, it is very important to start vitamin supplementation to increase the production of collagen which in turn will stabilize the arteries and make them more able to withstand the constant stress being impose upon them. This should be done prior to or hand-in-hand with any efforts to reduce or dissolve the plaque deposits as it is these deposits that are patching up the arteries and getting rid of them without addressing the underlying cause might invite other complications. It would be a very good idea to read Dr. Rath's book, "Why Animals Don't Get Heart Attack - But People Do", as Jim suggested. It is a free download for private use.
www4.dr-rath-foundation.org/THE_FOUNDATION/About_Dr_Matthias_Rath/why_book.html