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Coronary Heart Disease ( Chd )

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Introduction
Coronary heart disease (CHD), also known as ischemic heart disease is the most prevalent form of cardiovascular disease in Australia (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2014). While over 20,000 of deaths in 2011 were attributed to CHD. There were estimated 590,000 Australians 18 years old and above diagnosed with CHD in 2011-2012 (AIHW, 2014; Craft, 2014, pg. 596). Myocardial ischaemia is a common form of CHD. A sufficient coronary artery blood flow is essential to supply oxygen for normal cardiac activities. Myocardial ischaemia develops when there is an insufficient supply of blood and oxygen to support the function of myocardial cells (Craft, 2014, pg. 599). A decrease in blood supply can led to the formation of atherosclerotic plaques by narrowing or occluding the arteries. Other conditions such as hypotension, coronary spasm, dysthymias, hypoxemia and anaemia can also decrease the blood and oxygen supply to the myocardial cells (McCance & Huether, 2014, pg. 1153)

A common symptom for myocardial ischaemia is angina - chest pain. Angina can occur in two forms: stable or variant angina (McCance & Huether, 2014, pg. 1154). Stable angina is caused by myocardial ischaemia. The symptoms are usually described as sensation of heaviness, pressing or squeezing pain, and sometimes may radiate to other places such as left shoulder, arm, lower jaw and neck (McCance & Huether, 2014, pg. 1154; Touhy, Jett, Ebersole, & Hess, 2012, pg. 270). On the other hand,

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