What is
Heart disease?
Coronary artery disease is the narrowing or complete blockage of the arteries that supply blood to the heart. When fatty deposits narrow the opening in the vessels that carry blood to the heart muscle, angina pectoris (heart pain) can occur. Angina is the body's signal that the heart muscle is not getting enough blood. A myocardial infarction, or heart attack, occurs when one or more blood vessels feeding the heart are completely blocked. Since the heart is a muscle and all muscle needs blood to live, the heart muscle begins to die without blood. How many -- and which -- arteries are blocked determines the severity of the heart attack. If the heart attack is severe enough and help is not immediate, the person dies.
Heart muscle does not regenerate itself. Once it's dead, it's dead. What's more, the damage from small heart attacks is cumulative. When enough small patches of heart muscle die, the heart will stop beating.
On the bright side, most heart attack deaths are preventable. That's why it is important to call 911 within 15 minutes of experiencing the symptoms of a heart attack. Quick treatment and new clot-busting drugs can halt or prevent damage.
Cholesterol
From all its bad publicity, you might get the idea that cholesterol is itself bad. It isn't. Your body needs cholesterol, which it produces, to help it make its own cortisone and estrogen, among other hormones, and Vitamin D. Cholesterol also helps your body absorb fatty acids. Sounds like really good stuff, doesn't it?
Cholesterol attaches to two kinds of lipoprotein in the blood. The good kind, high-density lipoprotein, or HDL, carry cholesterol to the liver where the body gets rid of it. Low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, carry cholesterol that can build up as plaque in your arteries. That's the bad kind, and too much of it is harmful.
Plaque Buildup
This is the build up of LDL on the sides of arteries. In the head this build up of plaque can cause strokes, or brain attacks. In the heart, these fatty deposits can choke the vessels that supply blood to the heart muscle, thus causing angina, or heart pain, and heart attack.
Many factors can lead to this dangerous condition, referred to medically as atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. Obesity, a high-fat/low-fiber diet, lack of regular aerobic exercise, high alcohol consumption, and tobacco use.
Family History
We can't pick our parents. So, unfortunately, if at least one parent, a sibling, or other close relative has had a heart attack or stroke, or died of heart disease before age 55, your chances of developing heart disease are higher. But that isn't cause for despair. Even if your family has a history of coronary artery disease, you can reduce your risk of developing it too by decreasing your controllable risk factors.
Risk Factors
A recent study in California found that heart disease occurs earlier in people with certain risk factors than it would have had they not:
Been overweight
1.9 years
Smoked
3.1 years
Had High blood pressure
4.9 years
Been physically inactive
5.7 years
Had diabetes
8.3 years
Naturally you can't change the fact that you have Type-I (insulin-dependant) diabetes, but you can work with your physician to control it. Nor can you change your family history or your own medical history, your race, your sex or your age. If you already have had a heart attack, you're at a higher risk of having another one. You have a higher chance of developing high blood pressure if you are of African, Cuban, Mexican or Puerto Rican descent.
Men are at a higher risk of developing heart disease than are pre-menopausal women. And, sorry to say, the older you get, the greater are your chances of developing heart disease.
You can control many other risk factors and improve the quality -- and length -- of your life.
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© 1998 Prairie Public Broadcasting, Inc.