What is Coronary Heart Disease

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is defined as disease of the arteries of the heart. The coronary arteries feed oxygen-rich blood loaded with nutrients to the heart muscle. Through a process called atherosclerosis, cholesterol-laden plaque deposits in the inner walls of the arteries. As the plaque grows, it begins to block the blood flow. In the last stage of the plaque buildup, part of the top layer of plaque may become unstable and break free pulled away by the bloodstream. When this clotting occurs, the vessel may become clogged, part of the heart muscle fed by that artery dies, and a person suffers a heart attack.

            CHD may be divided into four stages: 1) The breakdown of an artery’s surface-defense system, 2) Subsequent invasion of the artery wall by cholesterol, fats, calcium and other substances, 3) Inflammation of the artery wall, 4) Formation of cholesterol plaque, and 5) Rupture of the plaque resulting in a heart attack and sometimes death.

            Most people go through the first three stages without any symptoms. If the arteries become constricted enough, the fourth stage may produce symptoms such as chest pain and a loss of energy upon exertion. In the fifth and final stage, if the victim survives the heart attack, he or she knows all to well the painful results of CHD.

            Has your lifestyle placed you in any one of the above stages? Let’s outline the risk factors. Are you overweight (obese)? Do you smoke? Do you eat fatty-fast foods often? Are you physically inactive? Are you a diabetic or prediabetic? Has a male member of your family had a heart attack before the age of 55 (or a female member before 65)? Do you have high blood pressure? Are you over forty years old? If you’ve answered yes to most of these questions, you should be working with your doctor on a treatment plan. Have your blood tested – a standard lipid profile to begin with – and ask what your cholesterol levels are and what each one means. In short - get involved – it’s a matter of life and death.

            CHD is no longer restricted to the old. Today, CHD starts in pre teenagers. The percentage of children over ten years old that are obese has risen considerably in the last few years. This is attributed to eating fast foods, trans fat which is found in off the shelf donuts, cup cakes, cookies, etc, coupled with the ‘sitting disease’ that is being a couch potato watching TV or playing video games for hours on end, has placed many children in the first stages of CHD.

            There is good news - medical science has come a long way in recent years. If you want to prevent CHD, the choice is now yours. You don’t have to go through the five stages of coronary heart disease. First go to your doctor and have your blood tested. Find out what your cholesterol levels are. You should know these values like you know how tall you are or how much you weigh or what color your eyes are, etc. Your measurements of total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides are extremely important – they may be a matter of life and death to you. Work with your doctor to lower or raise these values to comfortable and safe levels for you. In most cases you can reverse the effects of CHD and return your arteries to the supple and open flowing ones you had when you were born. And you can keep them that way. Remember - the choice is yours.