What is Coronary Artery Disease?

Coronary artery disease develops when your coronary arteries — the major blood vessels that supply your heart with blood, oxygen and nutrients — become damaged or diseased. Cholesterol-containing deposits (plaques) on your arteries are usually to blame for coronary artery disease.

When plaques build up, they narrow your coronary arteries, causing your heart to receive less blood. Eventually, diminished blood flow may cause chest pain (angina), shortness of breath or other coronary artery disease symptoms. A complete blockage can cause a heart attack.

Because coronary artery disease often develops over decades, it can go virtually unnoticed until it produces a heart attack.

Symptoms

Chest pain (angina)
Shortness of breath
Heart attack


Causes

Coronary artery disease is thought to begin with damage or injury to the inner layer of a coronary artery, sometimes as early as childhood. The damage may be caused by various factors, including:

Smoking
High blood pressure
High cholesterol
Diabetes
Radiation therapy to the chest, as used for certain types of cancer

Once the inner wall of an artery is damaged, fatty deposits (plaques) made of cholesterol and other cellular waste products tend to accumulate at the site of injury in a process called atherosclerosis. If the surface of these plaques breaks or
ruptures, blood cells called platelets will clump at the site to try to repair the artery. This clump can block the artery, leading
to a heart attack.

Western Medicine Treatment

Treatment for coronary artery disease usually involves lifestyle changes and, if necessary, drugs and certain medical procedures.


Lifestyle changes
Quit smoking
Eat healthy foods
Exercise regularly
Lose excess weight
Reduce stress
Drugs
Cholesterol-modifying medications
Aspirin.
Beta blockers
Nitroglycerin
Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs)
Calcium channel blocker
Procedures to restore and improve blood flow
Angioplasty and stent placement (percutaneous coronary revascularization)
Coronary artery bypass surgery


Adopted from Wei Laboratories, Inc.