Contents:
- Medical Video: Acute Coronary Syndrome and Heart Attack
- What are the causes of coronary artery disease?
- What happens if you experience angina?
- Stable angina
- Angina is not stable
- What about a heart attack?
- What can I do?
Medical Video: Acute Coronary Syndrome and Heart Attack
Coronary artery disease is a condition in which plaque builds up in the walls of the coronary arteries (vessels that drain blood to the heart muscle). These plaques can slowly block arteries, or suddenly break, causing more acute inhibition. Because the heart muscle requires a supply of oxygen and sustainable nutrients to survive, the inhibition of coronary arteries quickly results in serious problems.
What are the causes of coronary artery disease?
Coronary artery disease is caused by atherosclerosis.
Atherosclerosis is a chronic and progressive arterial disorder in which a collection of cholesterol, calcium, and abnormal cells (plaque) accumulates in the inner lining of the arteries.
These plaques can cause narrowing of the arteries slowly but progressively, and as a result, blood is more difficult to flow towards the arteries. If the inhibition has become large enough, the patient may experience angina.
What happens if you experience angina?
"Angina" is a symptom that patients experience whenever the heart muscle does not get enough blood flow through the coronary arteries. Angina is usually felt as an inconvenience (often painful as pressed) in or around the chest, shoulders, neck or arms.
Stable angina
"Stable angina" is angina which is almost predictable, for example, with great effort or after a big meal. Stable angina generally means that plaque has accumulated large enough to produce a partial inhibition of coronary arteries.
When a person with stable angina rests, partially blocked coronary arteries can meet the needs of the heart muscle. However, if you exercise, (or have other stresses that make the heart work harder), barriers prevent an increase in blood flow to the heart muscle adequately, and angina also occurs. So, stable angina usually means that there is significant plaque in the coronary arteries which partially inhibits blood flow.
In addition to causing obstacles with increasing size slowly, plaques also often break suddenly, which can inhibit suddenly. Medical conditions due to plaque fragments are called Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS). ACS is always an emergency medical condition.
Angina is not stable
"Unstable Angina" is a type of ACS. Unstable angina occurs when part of the plaque breaks, causing sudden worsening of arterial blockage. In contrast to stable angina, unstable angina symptoms are unpredictable (i.e., not related to hard work or stress), and tend to appear at rest. (Another name for unstable angina is "resting angina.") Patients with unstable angina have a high risk of blocking total coronary arteries, resulting in myocardial infarction.
What about a heart attack?
Myocardial infarction, or heart attack, is a more dangerous form of ACS. Broken plaques cause blockage of total (or almost total) coronary arteries, so that the heart muscle supplied by the arteries dies. So, a heart attack is the death of the heart muscle. The danger of myocardial infarction depends on how many heart muscles die. A mild heart attack is a heart attack in which only a small portion of the heart muscle dies, while most heart muscle dies is called a severe heart attack.
If the patient receives medical attention within a few hours of the initial heart attack, the size of the heart attack can be reduced by giving a blockage remedy, or by running an angioplasty immediately (and most often, stenting) to open a blocked artery.
After surviving a heart attack, patients are still at risk. The next heart attack may occur if there is more plaque in the coronary arteries. In addition, depending on the amount of heart muscle that has been damaged, patients can experience heart failure. Plus, a damaged heart muscle can cause permanent instability in the heart's electrical system, which can lead to sudden heart attacks. Therefore, after a heart attack, all of these risks need to be carefully assessed, and steps need to be taken to reduce each risk as much as possible.
what can I do?
The best way to deal with coronary heart disease, of course, is to prevent it. Everyone must do all the best they can to reduce risk factors for coronary artery disease.
For those who have experienced coronary artery disease, reducing the same risk factors is even more important, to slow the progression of the disease. In addition, there are several ways to treat coronary artery disease, including drug therapy, surgery, and angioplasty and stenting. Treatment of coronary artery disease is different for each person, and optimal therapy depends on careful consideration of each choice, by doctors and patients.
