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Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death in men and women in North America. You hear the words often, but maybe it’s time for a deeper overview to get you more acquainted with the terminology and what it means.
When the coronary arteries become clogged they can cause the following problems:
Heart attack; Angina (chest pains); and Sudden Death (the first symptom in 20 percent of people with coronary artery disease!).
Arteries become clogged due to cholesterol, but several systems in the body are also involved:
- The inflammatory system (the system that responds to infection and injuries)
- The blood-clotting system
- The inner lining of the coronary arteries
- The cholesterol-processing system
- and the body’s wound-healing system
Clogging or narrowing of the arteries results from a complicated interaction of these systems listed above. Scientists suspect the process begins even before we’re born. What’s more, researchers have established that atherosclerosis — the process that leads to arterial narrowing — can begin as early as the first year of life.
Once established, the narrowing of the arteries grows unevenly over time. For example, it can grow slowly for decades then increase its growth rate. As the narrowing grows, it increasingly limits the flow of blood through the artery. Chest pains occur when the heart requires more blood than can flow through the narrowing.
A heart attack is a sudden event that occurs when blood flow through an artery is completely blocked. Heart attacks are usually not caused by gradual narrowing of an artery. They are usually caused by a blood clot forming at the site of a narrowing.
It has been proven that heart disease is reversible.
It’s a shame over 60 million Americans suffer from heart disease when alternative options in treating and reversing this disease are available. Stay tuned for more updates on our ‘Repair System’ in the next few blog posts and some natural alternatives.
