The Heart healthy Lifestyle

Running Head : Coronary Artery Disease

Your Fight Against Coronary Artery Disease Abstract

The number 1 killer disease in America that had affected more than 13 million people is heart disease . Medically , it is termed as coronary artery disease (WebMD .com

It is both a silent killer and an outright killer . One-half of all patients with coronary artery disease had myocardial infarction (heart attack in layman 's term ) or sudden cardiac death as the first manifestation of their illness . While the other half were patients with coronary artery disease that has

angina pectoris , a chronic or subacute chest pain syndrome caused by transient myocardial ischemia due to increased oxygen demands to the heart muscles (Melmon and Morreli 's 2000 ,

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How can the patients in the first category be identified and treated before the onset of a life-threatening event ? If it is the second case how can one identify the symptoms of angina , or how to effectively treat the underlying disease

Your Fight Against Coronary Artery Disease

What is Coronary Artery Disease

Medically , coronary artery disease (CAD ) is also referred to as ischemic heart disease (IHD . Lack of oxygen supply to the heart muscle demand is most often caused by coronary artery atherosclerotic disease Atherosclerosis means built-up plagues and narrowing of the artery

Other causes of decreased oxygen delivery to the myocardium or heart muscle include coronary embolism , coronary ostial stenosis in tertiary syphilis , and coronary artery spasm . As written in Remington (2000 Anemia , carboxyhemoglobinemia , and hypoxemia from lung disease also can reduce the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood . Perfusion and oxygen delivery of the myocardium is decreased in hypotension Myocardial oxygen demand is increased with exertion , myocardial hypertrophy , thyrotoxicosis , and beriberi . In most cases of CAD atherosclerosis is the underlying factor (p .1064

How Does Coronary Artery Disease Develop

The coronary arteries that we have are hollow tubes . They are smooth and elastic on the inside thus allowing blood to flow freely . Fat started to be stored in blood vessel walls from your childhood days up until you get old . This causes injury to the blood vessel walls , and as a repair mechanism , your cells will release chemicals which makes the walls sticky . As time goes on , other substances such as inflammatory cells , proteins and calcium that passes into your bloodstream will attach itself to the vessel walls . The substances then will combine to form what we call as plague . This plague will increase in formation thus narrowing the passageway in the artery

Many plague deposits are hard on its outward surface while soft and mushy inside . Its hard surface will often cause a crack or tear , thus exposing a soft , fatty inside . In an attempt to repair , the platelets in the bloodstream will move to the area and form blood clots around the plague , which in turn will cause the narrowing of the artery

As one grows older , the formation of plaques in the arteries increases There are times when the blood clot will break apart , and blood...