Arterial Stiffness

Increased arterial stiffness, or the reduced ability of an artery to contract and expand as blood moves through it, is independently linked to increased CVD risk. It is often assessed by measuring pulse wave velocity, which is the time it takes for the heartbeat-induced wave in arterial walls to travel between two arterial points. Faster travel between those two points means the arteries the wave is traveling through are stiffer.