Coronary Artery Disease

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Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) or also referred to as Coronary Heart Disease (CHD), a heart disease that develops when your coronary arteries, the major blood vessels that supply your heart with blood, oxygen and nutrients become damaged. CHD is a term used commonly for buildup of plaque in the hearts arteries that could lead to heart attack. Cholesterol containing deposits, also known as plaque on your arteries is to blame for CAD. With CAD, the plaque starts to first grow in the coronary arteries until blood flow to the heart’s muscle becomes limited, in other words, ischemia. It could be chronic and is caused by the narrowing of the coronary artery and limitation of blood supply to part of the muscle. It also could be acute, which is the result from plaque suddenly rupturing. The inner wall of an artery is damaged. Some fatty deposits or plaques made up of cholesterol and other cellular waste products will accumulate at a site of injury in a process called atherosclerosis, the hardening of arteries. If the surface of the plaques break or rupture, blood cells, called platelets will clump or clot at that site to try and repair the artery. The clot or clump can block the artery which can lead to heart attack. There are several risk factors associated with CAD and could possibly build up on each other and make CAD an even greater risk. First, Men have a greater risk of CAD than women, although women’s risk of getting CAD increase after they go through menopause. As you get older, your age increases the risk of narrowed and damaged arteries, which of course leads to CAD. If you have a family history of heart disease, it is associated with a higher risk of CAD. Especially if a close relative such a brother developed a heart disease at a young age. Of course, smoking increases your risk because nicotine constricts your blood vessels and carbon monoxide can damage the

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