What is Coronary Artery Disease?

 Coronary artery disease is  fat, cholesterol, calcium and other substances, known as plaque, building up along the inside walls of  the arteries, so much that it begins slowing or blocking the flow of blood.  To see a simple and easy to understand diagram click on the link below.
Coronary artery disease diagram

Courtesy of Medline

If the plaque inside the artery ruptures, a blood clot can form over the rupture and completely block the blood flow within the artery.  If this sequence of events takes place in your heart, and the blood flow to the heart itself  is blocked, you have a heart attack,  otherwise known as a myocardial infarction.  This is an irreversible death of the tissues of the heart muscle that have been without the oxygen rich blood.  Obviously,  best case scenario there is localized damage that can managed with medication or surgery, worst case, you die.  The Center for Disease Control has statistics that show coronary heart disease to be responsible for 67.4% of all deaths in the United States in the year 2006.  The risks for developing coronary artery disease are smoking, family history, high blood pressure obesity, inactivity, increased age, being male, high stress, high fat diet and being diabetic.  Some of these risks are out of our control, but many are within our ability to modify.  The effects of a healthy diet and moderate exercise can help prevent or at least delay the onset of plaque build up in the arteries.