Coronary Artery Disease is caused by a thickening of the inside walls of the coronary arteries.
This thickening, called atherosclerosis, narrows the space through which blood can flow, decreasing and sometimes completely cutting off the supply of oxygen and nutrients to the heart.
Atherosclerosis usually occurs when a person has high levels of cholesterol, a fat-like substance, in the blood. Cholesterol and fat, circulating in the blood, build up on the walls of the arteries. The buildup narrows the arteries and can slow or block the flow of blood.
When the level of cholesterol in the blood is high, there is a greater chance that it will be deposited onto the artery walls. This process begins in most people during childhood and the teenage years, and worsens as they get older.
In addition to high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure and smoking also contribute to coronary artery disease. On the average, each of these doubles your chance of developing heart disease. Therefore, a person who has all three risk factors is eight times more likely to develop heart disease than someone who has none.
Obesity and physical inactivity are other factors that can lead to coronary artery disease. Overweight increases the likelihood of developing high blood cholesterol and high blood pressure, and physical inactivity increases the risk of heart attack. Regular exercise, good nutrition, and smoking cessation are key to controlling the risk factors for coronary artery disease.
Risk factors are conditions that increase your risk of developing heart disease. Some can be changed and some cannot. Although these factors each increase the risk of coronary artery disease, they do not describe all the causes of coronary artery disease; even with none of these risk factors, you might still develop coronary artery disease.
Controllable risk factors are:
- High blood pressure
- High blood cholesterol
- Smoking
- Obesity
- Physical inactivity
- Diabetes
- Stress*
Uncontrollable risk factors are:
- Gender
- Heredity (family history of CHD)
- Age
* Although stress may be a risk factor for coronary artery disease, scientists still do not know exactly how stress might be involved in heart disease.
Study Shows Quantity of Sleep May Raise Women’s Coronary Risk
Too little sleep — or too much — may raise the risk of developing heart disease, according to a study of nearly 72,000 nurses.
Women who averaged five hours or less of sleep a night were 39 percent more likely to develop heart disease than women who got eight hours. Those sleeping six hours a night had an 18 percent higher risk of developing blocked arteries than the eight-hour sleepers. Read the Article Study Shows Quantity of Sleep May Raise Women’s Coronary Risk…
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