Coronary heart disease, or simply coronary disease, is the failure of coronary circulation to supply adequate blood circulation to cardiac muscles and Coronary heart disease, or simply coronarydisease, is the failure of coronary circulation to supply adequate bloodcirculation to cardiac muscles and the surrounding tissue. Simply put, it is acondition of narrowing of the small blood vessels that supply blood and oxygento the heart. This is the most common form of heart diseases and a major causeof death in many regions of the world. It is estimated that more than 15million Americans have some kind of coronary heart disease.
Causes of coronary heart disease
Coronary heart disease is normally caused byatherosclerosis. This condition is distinguished by plaque build-up on thewalls of arteries. This build-up is composed mainly of fatty material. Oncewhen the coronary arteries narrow, the blood flow to the heart radically slowsdown or even stops. This causes pain in the chest area, shortness of the breathand other symptoms of coronary heart disease.
Risk factors
A number of different causes may increase one’srisk of developing coronary heart diseases. Patient’s age is one of the mostprominent risk factors. As people get older their arteries narrow and become weaker.Men older than 40 are at higher risk of coronary heath diseases. Women areincreasing their risk with growing age, and especially after they reachmenopause.
If a person has a family history of coronary heartdisease, he or she will be more likely to develop it themselves.
Certain health conditions like diabetes,hypertension, or kidney diseases are also associated with coronary heartdiseases.
Certain bad life habits such as smoking, alcoholabuse, unmanaged stress or a sedentary lifestyle, will certainly increase one’srisk of having coronary heart disease.
Signs and symptoms of coronary heart disease
Heart disease caused by narrowed, blocked orstiffened blood vessels usually manifest as a chest pain, shortness of breath,pain, numbness, weakness or coldness in the limbs. Most of the people don’tusually pay attention to these symptoms and their diagnosis is established oncewhen their condition severely worsens to the point of heart attack, angina,stroke, heart failure or sudden cardiac death.
Treatment of coronary heart disease
The treatment of coronary heart disease depends onthe symptoms and the severity of the patient’s condition. It usually involvestaking medications treat blood pressure, diabetes, or high cholesterol levels.Doctors will usually prescribe ACE inhibitors to lower blood pressure, Aspirinto prevent clotting of the blood, Beta-blockers to lower the heart rate,calcium blockers to relax arteries, diuretics to lower blood pressure, nitratesto help with chest pain and statins to lower cholesterol.
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