Pathophysiology: Coronary Heart Disease

Coronary artery disease (CAD) develops when plaque builds up in the narrow arteries of the heart. The arteries that are affected supply blood to your heart, oxygen, and numerous amounts of nutrients to the heart. The plaque that builds in the arteries is from the amount of cholesterol that is accumulated in the arteries. The plaque that builds within the arteries of the heart decrease the blood flow to the heart often resulting in chest pain (angina), shortness of breath, or other symptoms. This disease is often not diagnosed until the patient has a heart attack. The reason that coronary artery disease goes unnoticed is because this disease develops over decades. “Heart disease is the leading cause of

Atherosclerosis is the process in which substances known as plaques, which are made up of cholesterol and platelets, adhere to tears in the walls of arteries. Over time these plaques build up to the point where they occlude blood flow in the arteries. When this happens in the coronary arteries, either directly, as the result of buildup in the arteries themselves, indirectly in the form a clot from another part of the body breaking loose and becoming lodged in the coronary arteries, the usual result is a heart attack.3

Have you ever imagine a body functioning without a heart? The heart, the center of the cardiovascular system, is the essential manager for just about everything that gives the body life. Correspondingly, most of the heart diseases are fatal and cannot be ignored. In fact, "heart disease is the leading cause of death for women as well as men"(1). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every 25 seconds someone has a coronary event(1). One of these diseases is coronary heart disease (CHD). "CHD is a condition in which certain substances builds up inside the coronary arteries"(2). When these substances block the flow of oxygen-rich blood, heart attacks most often occur. Heart attack, also known as myocardial infarction, is a serious event and a leading killer that has numerous symptoms and certain risk factors.

Nevertheless, there is an understandable and noticeable link between circulatory related diseases and lifestyle diseases, such as Coronary Heart Disease. Coronary heart disease can occur when fatty acids, such as cholesterol in an inadequate diet, build up in the walls of the coronary artery. These fatty deposits collect minerals and harden to become a plaque. Eventually, this plaque grows and can swells up, forming an aneurism. In some cases, this aneurism may burst leading to instant death. As it continues to grow and swell up, it finally blocks the artery completely and forms blood clots. This is known as coronary thrombosis. A myocardial infarction, or in other words as heart attack, occurs when no oxygen is able to reach the coronary artery and thus it is unable to fulfil its role in providing the heart muscle with a sufficient supply of blood. Heart attacks are very common in the society nowadays, especially occurring in smokers or obesity related diseases (Millar, June 2014)

Coronary heart disease: Coronary heart disease is the build-up of plaque such as cholesterol and other fatty substances within the coronary arteries causing a reduced or no supply of oxygen to the heart. The process of plaque lining the coronary arteries is called arteriosclerosis. Coronary heart disease can be caused and triggered by many different factors. These

Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) it is also know as Coronary Artery Disease. It happens when the blood vessels delivering to the heart develop blockage or are narrowed by plaque, which reduces the flow of the blood, oxygen and nutrients supplied to the heart. If this happens the person starts to feel chest pain (also known as angina pectoris) and then it lead to the person to have a heart attack. It is known to be the main factor to cause cardiac arrest and it can be fatal unless the heart is restarted in minutes.

A sufficient coronary artery blood flow is essential to supply oxygen for normal cardiac activities (Craft, 2014, p. 599). Atherosclerosis is a common form of CHD. It is an inflammation disease when plasma cholesterol is high. Risk factors such as hypertension, high cholesterol, smoking and diabetes increase the risk of endothelium injuries, contributing to the increase in oxidated lipid-lipoprotein (LDL). Foam cell is produced by the increase in the number of macrophages signalled by oxidated LDL. Next, the accumulation of foam cells will cause the formation of fatty streak lesions on arteries walls. Over time, fatty streak lesions migrate to the site and form fibrous plaque due to the increase in smooth muscles and collagen. The thickening and hardening initiated by an accumulation in calcified fibrous plaque caused the blood vessels to narrow. As a result, a decrease in tissue perfusion contributing to the development of myocardial ischemia (Craft, 2014, p. 599; McCance & Huether, 2014, pp. 1145-1147).

Similar to other diseases coronary heart disease affects thousands of people. The disease affects the heart in that it causes a waxy substance called plaque where it builds up inside of the coronary arteries. These arteries supply oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle. When a person has coronary heart disease the hardened arteries restrict blood flow, which means that the heart cannot receive enough oxygenated blood, especially when it beats quickly during physical exertion or stress. This can cause chest pain and shortness of breath. However, if the artery is completely blocked, a heart attack can occur. Lack of oxygen during a heart attack causes damage as the heart muscle dies and is replaced with scar tissue. If damage is severe, the heart

Cardiac arrest is a grave medical emergency where the heart stops pumping blood throughout the body and can lead to death in minutes. There are currently 30,000 out of hospital cardiac arrest in UK (Perkins, 2016). In coronary artery disease there is a obstruction in the arteries that supply blood and oxygen to the heart. The initial step in coronary artery disease (CAD) is the formation of atherosclerosis. The build up of plaque is called atherosclerosis. CAD is a progressive disease that most commonly presents as angina. The beginning of CAD is thought

As the severity of plaque builds up the signs and symptoms may vary. Emotional stress can flare

Ischemic Heart Disease or Coronary Heart Disease is a condition in which there is an imbalance in the oxygen demand and supply to the myocardial. An underlining cause of this is atherosclerosis, a process in which there has been a gradual build -up of fatty metabolic waste deposits (plaque) on the inside walls of the coronary arteries the vessels that supply oxygenated blood to the heart muscle. The coronary arteries eventually become mostly or completely blocked causing angina and can ultimately lead to a myocardial infarction due to the heart muscle not receiving adequate blood supply to function properly.

Coronary artery disease is the most common cause of a myocardial infarction (MI). As a result of CAD, plaque builds up in the arteries, thus narrowing the coronary arteries and preventing adequate blood flow to the heart. This condition is called atherosclerosis. In 2012, Huether, S., & McCance, K. defines Atherosclerosis when it begins to occur when there has been an injury to the coronary vessel wall. When injury occurs on the vessels endothelial layer it triggers a clotting mechanism. That mechanism sends chemotaxsis signals through the body for monocytes/macrophages to come clean the open vessel wall that is leaking LDL into the blood. The macrophages attempt to digest the fatty substance but have a hard time doing so. When the cells cannot digest the LDL, cell proliferation happens and they become static. Static macrophages turn into foam cells that then begin to cover the open vessel wall. Stasis of these foam cells occurs and forms a fatty streak, beginning to slowly occlude the artery. Then with time, build up of collagen occurs on top of the

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is an acquired condition characterised by atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries. CHD is the most common cause of death globally, and in Australia. However, the prevalence of CHD is disproportionately high in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations, at approximately twice the rate of other Australian populations. There are a number of established risk factors for developing CHD, including hypercholesterolaemia, obesity and hypertension. These risk factors are especially prevalent in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations. A multifactorial model for the causation of CHD addresses both distal and proximal risk factors for CHD. Whilst the risk factors can be applied equally to all

Atherosclerosis, the underlying cause of coronary heart disease which can affect any artery in the body, is essentially the narrowing of arteries due to excessive build up of cholesterol-rich lipids known as plaque (Insull 2009). Once the arteries become narrow, the flow of blood will be constricted, and the amount of blood, nutrients and oxygen that are able to reach the heart are reduced. As a consequence, the heart becomes increasingly hypoxic resulting in ineffective contraction. The aftermath of narrow arteries often poses serious consequences as it has a high probability of causing heart attack, angina, or even stroke (Marieb & Hoehn 2010; Insull 2009). Despite the fact that arteries will harden naturally as people age, the rate of plaque development is determined by the number of risk factors (Insull 2009). This essay will discuss and review the procedure in which the risk factors: hypertension, abnormal level of blood lipids, and smoking took to assist in the development of atherosclerosis.

I am concerned with coronary artery disease (CAD), as it is the leading cause of death in the United States and Florida. It is the most well-known kind of coronary illness. Over time CAD can debilitate the heart muscle and contribute to heart attacks. There are many modifiable risk factors, such as quit smoking, decrease alcohol intake, modifying the diet to reduce sodium and sugar intake, reducing obesity by losing weight, and increasing activity. Hypertension, diabetes also contributes to CAD.