Coronary Heart Disease Diagrams

Coronary heart disease,Coronary Heart Disease Diagrams is also called coronary artery disease, CAD.

Almost 13 million Americans feel its affects, a fact that makes it one of the most prevalent forms of heart disease. There are often complications from CAD such as arrhythmias, angina pectoris and myocardial infarction, also known as a heart attack.

The CAD and its complications compose the leading cause of loss of life in the United States. Most of the time coronary heart disease comes from plaque blocking the lining of the arteries that feed the blood to the heart. This condition is atherosclerosis. The plaque is composed of fatty compounds, calcium, fibrin which is a blood-clotting agent and cholesterol. There are two types of plaque that build. One of them is hard plaque that most people know about. The other is soft or vulnerable plaque.

Hard plaque stops the flow of the blood in the arteries and causes the heart attack. With either a decrease or total blockage of blood, the heart no longer receives enough oxygen. When this happens you have a heart attack.

Soft plaque, however, causes most of the heart attacks. Vulnerable or soft plaque forms at an inflamed part of the artery. If the artery bursts a blood clot forms. The clot actually blocks the artery and leads to the heart attack.

Coronary Heart Disease Diagrams

If you looked at diagrams of coronary heart disease you'd have to look at two different views to get the entire picture. The first view would be of the blood flow to the heart. In most cases you'd see the blood taking a path and then suddenly stopping at a certain point before it enters the heart. That point is either where blockage occurs because of hard plaque or a blood clot or soft plaque blocks the area.

A second coronary heart disease diagram might include a visual of the interior of the coronary arteries. In this case, you'd see plaque build up on the sides of the arteries to the point of closing them in some cases. Other diagrams of coronary heart disease would show soft plaque build up on the wall of the artery with a blood clot doing most of the damage of blockage.

Symptoms of Coronary Heart Disease

Many people can have waxy build up for years without causing any visible symptoms. Sometimes the disease begins in childhood and it starts displaying symptoms as early as the patient's 30's. Most of the time, people remain without symptoms until they reach their 50's or 60's. Just like a slow moving drain, the stagnating flow of blood through the arteries worsens as time passes. Pressure in the chest may occur, pain after exercise or emotional stress often is a warning sign.

Even though the arteries are in the chest and pain may start there, chest pain known as angina may spread through the body. It can radiate down the arm, neck, jaw, back or throat. Rather than pain, some people have the distinct feeling of numbness in their arms wrists and shoulders when this occurs. Often the feeling only lasts a few minutes and dissipates.

Go to from Coronary Heart Disease Diagrams