Coronary heart disease

Coronary heart disease (CAD) is also known as coronary artery disease, ischaemic heart disease or atherosclerotic heart disease and is the end result of the accumulation of atheromatous plaques or fatty debris within the walls of the arteries that supply the muscles of the heart with oxygen and nutrients.

Most individuals with CAD have no signs of the disease until the first onset of symptoms, often angina or a sudden heart attack. After decades of progression, some of these fatty plaques may rupture and along with the activation of the blood clotting system, start limiting blood flow to the heart muscles.

CAD is the most common cause of sudden death and also the most common cause of death of men and women over twenty years of age. According to present trends in the United States, half of healthy forty-year-old males will develop CHD in the future, and one in three healthy forty-year-old women.

Confirmed risk factors for the development of CAD are as follows, in an order of decreasing importance: elevated blood fat or cholesterol levels, smoking, high blood pressure, high blood sugar levels due to diabetes mellitus or otherwise and “Type A” behavioural patterns, people who are impatient, very time-conscious, highly competitive, hostile, aggressive and incapable of relaxation

Significant, but indirect risk factors include a lack of exercise, obesity, stress and a diet rich in saturated fats and low in antioxidants.

Treatment and prevention of coronary heart disease

Prevention is based on modifying the risk factors, which include decreasing cholesterol levels, reducing stress, addressing obesity and high blood pressure, avoiding a sedentary lifestyle, making healthy dietary choices and not smoking, a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin C and aspirin in doses of less than 75 to 81 mg/d, can reduce the incidence of cardiovascular events.