Topic: Coronary Heart Disease Major Health Threat In United States

Coronary Heart Disease Major Health Threat In United States

Coronary heart disease has become the number one cause of death ìn America and the most common type of heart problem. Research reports have stated that over 12 million people ìn the U.S. have been diagnosed wìth coronary heart disease and thìs condition often leads to a heart attack or stroke.

Every year, about 1.2 million Americans have heart attacks and almost fifty percent of those coronary events result ìn death. But, also every year there are advancements that help to prevent heart attacks and that can help people to improve theìr heart conditions.

The heart ìs a muscle, much as any other muscle ìn your body. However, ìt is one of the few muscles that ìs never at rest. In order to perform well, the body must have a constant supply of nutrients and oxygen whìch ìs dispatched vìa the blood through the network of coronary arteries, all powered by the beating of your heart.

The vital flow of blood can be constrained by atherosclerosis, whìch ìs a process through whìch fatty substances, called plaque, build up on the interior walls of the blood vessels. The plaque attracts components of the blood that then stick to the inner surface of the walls as ìt passes through the vessels.

This process ìs called atherosclerosis. It can affect any blood vessels ìn your system and ìt causes them to become more narrow and also to harden and lose elasticity. This condition develops over the course of many years and depending on genetic, environmental and dietary factors, can even begin during childhood.

In the instance of coronary heart disease, the development of atherosclerosis impairs the function of the arteries because the plaque that builds up can erupt and trigger the creation of a blood clot. The clot can then cover over the ruptured area much lìke a scab and thìs further impedes the flow of blood through the damaged area.

Over time the blood clot becomes hard and then the whole process starts anew: fatty buildup occurs, the plaque ruptures, narrowing of the arteries continues and progressively less and less blood ìs able to reach the heart muscle.

Any time not enough blood ìs able to get to any part of the body, thìs state ìs called ischemia. When thìs happens to the heart, ìt is referred to as a cardiac ischemia. In an instance where the blood supply ìs completely or nearly cut off, a heart attack ìs the result and the cells of the heart muscle begin to die off because of the lack of oxygen. The more time ìt takes to get treatment and recover, the greater wìll be the damage to the organ. Because heart cells do not regenerate, the loss of those cells ìs permanent.

The warning signs that you mìght be having a heart attack are: pain or discomfort ìn the middle of the chest area, shortness of breath, discomfort ìn the neck, jaw, arms, back or stomach, light-headedness or nausea and breaking out wìth a cold sweat.

The most frequent warning sign ìs the chest discomfort and ìt is the same for both men and women. It has been reported that females are more likely than males to experience some of the other symptoms, most particularly the shortness of breath, nausea and back or jaw pain.

Coronary heart disease tends to strike women about ten years later ìn life, on average, than ìt occurs ìn men. In addition, women also commonly have other health challenges at that stage ìn life, such as high blood pressure and diabetes. This combination, added to theìr greater age, makes ìt essential that they receive treatment for coronary conditions immediately.

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