Among the major organs in the human body, the heart deserves a special mention. Owing to various reasons the normal functioning of heart can be affected and malfunctions in its working can lead to onset of fatal ailments. If not diagnosed and treated in time, cardiac problems can lead to life threatening conditions and eventually death. One such example is coronary artery disease. It is also referred as coronary heart disease, though in reality the former often leads to the onset of the latter ailment in humans.
What is coronary heart disease/ coronary artery disease?
Coronary heart disease is caused by excessive buildup of plaque inside the arteries of the heart. This eventually leads to cardiac attack. In coronary artery disease, the inner walls of the arteries get choked with plaque. This limits blood flow to the victim’s heart. It leads to a condition clinically called ischemia, which can be chronic too. It can also lead to acute pain, caused by the formation of blood clots. This is what leads to cardiac attack and death.
What are the risk factors for coronary artery disease?
There are many factors that may contribute to the onset of this ailment. However, in many instances, the plaque development on artery walls may start at a young age. With time, stuffs like inflammatory cells, calcium and lipoproteins may get stuck to the plaque, making the blood flow passage narrower. The plaque may rupture and that may cause cardiac attack.
The typical risk factors of coronary artery disease are:
- High blood pressure
- High LDL cholesterol
- Smoking
- Diabetes
- Family history
- Ageing
- Obesity
Major Symptoms of Coronary Artery Disease
The main symptom of this ailment is angina, or pain in chest. It may include aching, pressure, burning, numbness or fullness. It is often mistaken as heartburn. While it occurs in the chest part, it may also occur in back and arms.
Other symptoms are:
- Shortness of breath
- A faster heartbeat
- Irregular heartbeats
- Sweating
- Nausea
- Dizziness
Ways to diagnose Coronary Artery Disease
To diagnose the occurrence of this cardiac ailment the doctor may examine your family history and various health related factors. The tests that may be carried out for diagnosis are EKG, echocardiogram, CT scans, and more.
Treatment options for Coronary Artery Disease
While Coronary Artery Disease is deemed as a major cardiac disorder, with care it can be prevented and post its onset, the risk of attacks can be minimized. The treatment options include:
- Lifestyle and dietary changes- People diagnosed with risk of this disorder should make some vital changes to their diet and lifestyle to bring down the possibility of a heart attack. For patients of this ailment, staying away from all types of processed and fried food is good. Sugar and salt should not be used in their meals in excess.
- Medications- Sometimes, the doctors may advise in taking certain medications to improve heart health.
- Surgery- For a section of people diagnosed with this cardiac ailment, undergoing surgical procedures is the option. The common and widely used surgical procedures include Balloon angioplasty, Coronary artery bypass surgery and Stent placement. However, in recent times, more advanced procedures are being tried, including angiogenesis and EECP etc.
Precautions to be taken to evade on set of Coronary Artery Disease
The age old saying of prevention being better than cure is also applicable for Coronary Artery Disease. You need to know the ways to bring down your risk of contracting this menace. While risk factors like ageing, heredity, and ethnicity cannot be controlled and changed you can deploy other changes in life to improve the prospects.
You can cut down on smoking as Tobacco smoking has been identified as a factor(12) which can raise the risk of mortality in people afflicted with coronary heart disease. It can also make you more vulnerable to developing it. Changing diet to exclude foods that can shoot bad cholesterol levels is also advisable. A sedentary lifestyle also hikes the risk of getting this ailment in people. Low to moderate levels of workout is ideal to bring down the risk. Excess body flab is a major factor behind developing heart ailments, including Coronary Artery Disease and so losing weight is a prerequisite to stay away from this disorder.