Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)

Coronary artery disease is defined as the buildup of plaque in the arteries that supply oxygen-rich blood to your heart. Plaque causes constriction or blockage of the arteries, which can lead to a heart attack. Common symptoms include chest pain or discomfort, as well as shortness of breath. Dietary modifications, medications to address your risk factors, and/or surgery may be used as treatments.

The locations of the coronary arteries and their effects

Coronary arteries are blood vessels that transport oxygen-rich blood to your heart muscle, allowing it to continue beating. The coronary arteries are veins that run parallel to the heart muscle. In your body, there are four primary coronary arteries:

1. A blood channel that goes through the heart is known as the right coronary artery.
2. The coronary artery on the left side of the body.
3. An artery that runs down the body’s left side.
4. On the left side, is the circumflex artery.

What happens to the arteries in coronary artery disease?

Coronary artery disease is caused by atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is the accumulation of plaque within your arteries. Plaque is made up of cholesterol, fatty substances, waste products, calcium, and the clotting element fibrin. Plaque accumulates on the insides of your arteries, causing them to constrict and harden. Plaque can block or damage your arteries, restricting or stopping blood flow to your heart muscle. If our heart does not receive enough blood, it cannot obtain the oxygen and nutrients it requires to perform properly. The medical name for this condition is ischemia. A shortage of blood supply to your heart muscle may cause chest discomfort or pain (called angina). It also increases your risk of suffering a heart attack.

The causes of artery plaque formation

Everyone is affected by coronary artery disease at some point in their lives. The rate at which it develops differs from person to person. The process usually starts when you’re young. Before your adolescence, the blood vessel walls begin to develop fat streaks. When plaque accumulates in the inner walls of your arteries, your body responds by sending white blood cells to attack the cholesterol, but the attack causes further inflammation. Other artery wall cells respond by producing a soft coating over the plaque.

The delicate crown of the plaque has the potential to break open (due to blood pressure or other causes). Platelets, which are blood cell fragments, cling to the site of “the injury,” resulting in the formation of a clot. The clot causes the arteries to constrict even more. A blood clot may disintegrate on its own at times. A clot will occasionally restrict blood flow via an artery, depriving the heart of oxygen and resulting in a heart attack.

The symptoms and indicators of coronary artery disease

Because we did not notice the symptoms at first, we may have missed the fact that you had coronary artery disease. Plaque accumulates in your arteries throughout time, ranging from years to decades. When your arteries contract, you may have mild symptoms, signalling that your heart is working harder to provide oxygen-rich blood to your body. The most common symptoms are chest pain and shortness of breath, which can occur even when doing nothing but walking up the stairs.

We may not be aware that you have coronary artery disease until you have a heart attack. The indications and symptoms of a heart attack are as follows:

1. Angina symptoms include heaviness, tightness, pressure, pain, burning, numbness, fullness, squeezing, or dull discomfort.
2. The pain could radiate to your left shoulder, arms, neck, back, or jaw, or it could be limited to your left shoulder, arms, neck, back, or mouth.
3. depleted
4. Dizziness and lightheadedness
5. Nausea.
6. Weakness

Conclusion

We may conclude that the majority of people with coronary artery disease severe enough to require coronary artery bypass grafting have at least one of the basic modifiable risk factors for IHD. Modifying these characteristics has the potential to reduce the disease burden and cardiovascular mortality associated with CAD.