Coronary artherosclerotic disease is a disease of the heart's arteries. The arteries deliver blood and oxygen to the heart muscle. Any impediment to this delivery will cause the heart muscle to improperly function and may kill the heart tissue. Heart disease is a major cause of illness, disability and death causing more than one million deaths each year in the US alone. Another 70 million live with some type of heart disease.
Development
There are two main theories on how coronary artherosclerotic disease develops. The first theory is that high levels of blood cholesterol injure the artery lining. The injury causes inflammation further damaging the artery wall and allows fatty material to collect. The second theory is that the artery lining is repeatedly injured due to an immune system reaction, from bacterial or viral infection or because of the toxic effects of drugs.
Artery Damage
Regardless of how the disease develops it is thought that inflammation plays a key role. Inflammation in the artery wall causes body cells to collect at the site of inflammation. These cells then accumulate fat along the wall causing plaques. The artery walls become thick and less elastic. This, along with plaque accumulation, leads to reduced blood flow to the tissues served by the affected arteries. It also leads to high blood pressure, calcium accumulation on the plaques and possible heart muscle damage.
Symptoms
Coronary artherosclerotic disease generally has no noticeable symptoms until at least 70 percent of the affected artery is blocked. Then chest pain (angina) may be felt due to decreased levels of oxygen and blood reaching the heart muscle. Other symptoms may include abnormal heart rhythm, heart failure or heart attack.
Risk Factors
There are a number of risk factors to developing coronary artherosclerotic disease. Smoking is a major risk factor and the development of the disease is directly related to the amount smoked on a daily basis. Smoking increases a number of factors leading to coronary artherosclerotic disease: cholesterol, blood clot formation, carbon monoxide (which injuries artery walls) and artery constriction. High blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, obesity, lack of exercise, diabetes mellitus and high levels of blood homocysteine are also risk factors.
Prevention/Solution
To prevent the development of coronary artherosclerotic disease it is vital to lower your risk factors. Quitting smoking will greatly reduce your chance of developing the disease. High blood pressure should be controlled with diet, exercise and medication. If overweight or obese, losing the extra pounds will decrease the risk of developing heart disease. Testing for cholesterol and treating high cholesterol are ways to minimize risk. Increasing physical exercise will improve overall health. Diabetic patients should closely monitor their condition.
Tags: artherosclerotic disease, heart muscle, blood pressure, coronary artherosclerotic, artery lining, artery wall