"You have coronary heart disease." When your doctor says one word for you or someone you love, it's scary and confusing. You probably have dozens of questions: What is coronary heart disease? Should I change my lifestyle?
Coronary heart disease (CHD), also called coronary artery disease (CAD) or ischemic heart disease, a form of heart disease that is caused by narrowing of the coronary arteries that supply the heart. If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with CHD, it can help you to know that you are not alone. In fact, CHD is the most common form of heart disease, affecting at least 12 million Americans. This is the biggest killer of men and women in the United States, responsible for nearly half a million deaths each year, or about 1 of every 5 deaths. CHD causes almost all heart attacks (myocardial infarction). Every 29 seconds an American suffers from coronary events (infarction or fatal CHD), and every minute one of us will die from one. The American Heart Association estimates that this year alone, more than a million Americans will suffer from new or recurrent coronary events, and nearly 40 percent of those who will die from it.
Coronary heart disease is not just an American problem. CHD is very common in other Western countries, too, like many in Europe. Cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke ("stroke") kills more people worldwide than any other Health Organization estimates that 30 percent of all deaths caused by heart and circulatory diseases such as KBS.
The good news is that you must not become another statistic KBS. There is a lot you can do to minimize the risk of heart attack or death from CHD. Sometimes just a change of lifestyle - after a heart-healthy diet, regular exercise and reduce stress in your life, can prevent heart attack or even reverse narrowing of the arteries. There are a number of new drugs and developing every day that can help reduce the risk of heart attack. Surgical procedures such as angioplasty and stenting or bypass surgery can help compensate for blockage in the arteries and help keep your heart to supply blood needs. Educate yourself about treatment options, and working closely with your doctor you and your doctor can choose the best treatments that will allow you to live long and healthy life.
Circulatory system
Is the first step in taking charge of your CHD is to learn everything you can about the disease. To understand the KSF and how it affects your heart, you have to understand a little about your heart and how it works.
Your circulatory system, also known as your cardiovascular system, consists of the heart, lungs and blood vessels called arteries and veins. This system carries blood, food and oxygen to every cell in the body. It also carries waste products from cells outside the body. (The station is a block of every tissue and organ in the body.) Think of your circulatory system as a busy highway system composed of massive highways and major streets that feed into smaller and smaller streets and ultimately into the small streets and alleys. This system is composed entirely of one-way street. In our imaginary highways, cars, or in this case, blood can flow in only one street called arteries and arterioles (small arteries) carry blood enriched with oxygen and nutrients to the cells of the heart in street called veins and venules (small veins) carry blood loaded with harmful substances from the cells back to the heart.
The heart is a pump that keeps blood flowing around and around in an endless circle around the body. Think of it as a traffic police officer who coordinates the flow of traffic through our highway system. The heart is a hollow muscle, which weighs less than a pound and is about the size of human hands. Despite its small size, this amazing body of an average of 100,000 times a day, pumping about 2,000 gallons of blood every day. If you live to be 70, your heart will beat more than 2.5 billion times.
Coronary arteries
What is coronary heart disease?
What causes CHD
It is likely that more than one process involved in the formation of plaque. Many researchers believe that when the excess fat in combination with oxygen, they become trapped in the arterial wall. This attracts white blood cells that help prevent infection when the damaged tissue. Then call the substance of prostaglandins, which are covered in blood and changing the tone (strength) of the arteries, they become active. Any injury to the artery wall, such as damage from smoking, can trigger stimulate more plaque growth and narrow the arteries and / or cause blood clots to form.
No matter how much plaque forms, a new board is composed largely of living cells. In fact, about 85 percent of the advanced panel consists of cell waste, calcium, smooth muscle cells, connective tissue, and foam cells (white blood cells that have digests fat). About 15 percent of the advanced plaque consists of fat.
After the plaque develops, the plaque contains cells can be easily damaged. This can lead to the formation of blood clots in the plaque outside. Small clots may further damage the other layers of the wall of blood vessels and encourage more plaque growth. Larger blood clots can partially or completely blocked arteries.
In addition to hinder or completely block blood flow, plaque can interfere with the ability of the arteries expand and contract. To meet the ever-changing bodies need for blood, the arteries should be strong and elastic. For example, when you exercise, your body needs more blood. The heart responds pumping faster and the arteries respond by expanding to accommodate increased blood volume expands to accommodate the increased volume of blood from the heart. As the arteries become narrowed and hard, that the elasticity is lost. Arteries that atherosclerotic plaques are more apt to cramp (temporarily narrow), causing even less blood flow to the heart and can cause chest pain or heart attack.
