What is a typical symptom of coronary heart disease?
What is a typical symptom of coronary heart disease?
Angina, or chest pain and discomfort, is the most common symptom of CAD. Angina can happen when too much plaque builds up inside arteries, causing them to narrow. Narrowed arteries can cause chest pain because they can block blood flow to your heart muscle and the rest of your body.
What are the 4 main symptoms of heart disease?
Symptoms
- Chest pain, chest tightness, chest pressure and chest discomfort (angina)
- Shortness of breath.
- Pain, numbness, weakness or coldness in your legs or arms if the blood vessels in those parts of your body are narrowed.
- Pain in the neck, jaw, throat, upper abdomen or back.
What is the biological explanation for coronary heart disease?
Coronary heart disease (CHD) is usually caused by a build-up of fatty deposits (atheroma) on the walls of the arteries around the heart (coronary arteries). The build-up of atheroma makes the arteries narrower, restricting the flow of blood to the heart muscle. This process is called atherosclerosis.
What are the 7 major risk factors for coronary heart disease?
The traditional risk factors for coronary artery disease are high LDL cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, family history, diabetes, smoking, being post-menopausal for women and being older than 45 for men, according to Fisher. Obesity may also be a risk factor.
What happens to the heart in coronary heart disease?
In coronary heart disease, the blood vessels to the heart are narrowed, putting the heart under stress. In the long term this can cause angina, a form of chest pain. When the blood supply to part of the wall of the heart becomes completely blocked, the result is a sudden and potentially fatal heart attack.
What body systems are affected by coronary heart disease?
The coronary arteries supply blood, oxygen and nutrients to your heart. A buildup of plaque can narrow these arteries, decreasing blood flow to your heart. Eventually, the reduced blood flow may cause chest pain (angina), shortness of breath, or other coronary artery disease signs and symptoms.
What behaviors increase the risk of heart disease?
About half of all Americans (47%) have at least 1 of 3 key risk factors for heart disease: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and smoking. Some risk factors for heart disease cannot be controlled, such as your age or family history. But you can take steps to lower your risk by changing the factors you can control.
How fast does coronary artery disease progress?
Although atherosclerosis is believed to progress over many years, it has been increasingly noted to progress over few months to 2-3 years in few patients without traditional factors for accelerated atherosclerosis.
