 [ Symptoms ] i am having serve vaginal itching and swelling there are little bumps and possible discharge no foul odor this all started yesterday when i woke up i am having severe itching in my vulva area after checking it out i realized that my inner lips are extremely swollen and very painful the pain is eased a bit with cold compression or in the shower there is no discharge that i can tell and no foul odor [ Disease ] atherosclerosis starts when high blood pressure smoking or high cholesterol damage the endothelium a thin layer of cells that lines arteries keeping them toned and smooth  says richard stein md national spokesperson for the american heart association at that point cholesterol plaque formation begins  it is a jumble of lipids or cholesterol cells and debris and it creates a bump on the artery wall  explains stein as the process of atherosclerosis continues the bump gets bigger  a big enough bump can create a blockage atherosclerosis tends to happen throughout the body so if you have plaque in your heart you are at a higher risk for stroke and vice versa  says stein atherosclerosis usually causes no symptoms until middle or older age once narrowings become severe they choke off blood flow and can cause pain blockages can also suddenly rupture causing blood to clot inside an artery at the site of the rupture