What is Coronary Heart Disease? What are the symptoms?
Coronary Heart Disease (CHD), also known as coronary artery disease (CAD), is any one of several abnormal conditions that affects the arteries of the heart due to insufficient blood supply and a reduced flow of oxygen. When a coronary artery is lacking oxygen due to an interruption in the blood supply (usually caused by a blood clot or plaque build up inside the artery), an infarct can occur. An infarct is tissue death, it is permanent damage, and, in its severest form will kill the patient. The most common kind of coronary heart disease is atherosclerosis. It underlies most causes of heart disease and death. It is a disorder characterized by the accumulation and deposit of cholesterol and lipids in the artery wall. Symptoms Atherosclerosis, by itself, does not necessarily produce any symptoms. For symptoms to develop there must be a critical decrease in the blood supply to the heart in proportion to the demand of the heart for oxygen (a supply and demand imbalance). Often symptoms of
