There are many known factors that cause CAD. Some factors may be controlled and some are uncontrollable. The controllable factors include high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, smoking, obesity, physical inactivity, diabetes and stress. Uncontrollable factors include gender (males are at greater risk), heredity (which shows in family histories of CAD) and age. Although it is possible to develop CAD without these factors, usually each of these factors is known to double the risk of CAD. For instance, if there are three factors shown in a patient the risk increases up to 8 times. Among the many risk factors that can cause CAD, all contribute via one mechanism. Each factor causes artery walls to be thickened and thus narrows the arteries causing slowed or blocked blood flow to the cardiac muscle. Slowed coronary blood flow provides less oxygen to the heart, causing stress to the heart. Eventually a blocked coronary artery stops oxygen transfer to the heart and causes myocardial infarction.

While the statistics shows disturbing data, the rate of heart disease se

· Stage 6: Rupture of the fibrous cap with resultant thrombosis causes acute coronary syndrome.

There are no defined symptoms for the CAD. The earliest detectable symptoms may include angina or shortness of breathe. Angina can be sub-categorized as stable and unstable angina. While both anginas refer to pain or discomfort in the chest due to the insufficient blood supply to the cardiac muscle, stable angina usually lasts 1 ~ 15 minutes and is provoked by excess exercise or stress and can be relieved by rest or use of nitroglycerin. Unstable angina, the more severe and frequent form, can occur even at rest and can last much longer than stable angina. The angina can lead to temporary, abrupt, and focal (restricted to one location) contraction of the cardiac muscles. This is called a coronary artery spasm, which constricts the artery to slow or stop blood flow through the artery during the spasm. Coronary artery spasm may be a spontaneous reaction to the angina, but it can also occur when a person is exposed to cold, emotional stress, withdrawal from substance abuse, or vasoconstriction from medications. While angina is chest pain, it is caused by myocardial ischemia. Myocardial ischemia is deprivation of oxygen in the cardiac muscle accompanied by inadequate removal of metabolites because of reduced blood flow or perfusion.

Unless a person has some other conditions, the human body is capable of generating enough cholesterol from the liver. Taking animal-based foods will result intake of excess cholesterol. Thus, it is important to take plant-based food which does not contain cholesterol, or if must, to limit the animal-based food consumption to the minimum.

When lifestyle change therapy is not enough to control the cholesterol, patients with CAD often take drugs that help to lower level of cholesterol. Patients with CAD also take drugs that control heart-rate and widen the arteries. Among many drugs available for CAD patients are cholesterol-reducing agents. While there are four types of cholesterol reducing agents (bile-acid resin, fibrates, nicotinic acid, and statin), each works by a different mechanism. Since some cholesterol comes from the liver and some comes from the diet, some drugs prevent liver from making cholesterol, some prevent the body from absorbing cholesterol from the diet, and some enhance removal of cholesterol from the bloodstream.

Some topics in this essay:
Disease CAD, Patients CAD, ECG EKG, III Vascular, Program NCEP, Familial Hypercholesterolemia, Angioplasty PTCA, Cholesterol-carrying LDL, University Washington, Style Change, blood vessel, coronary arteries, coronary artery, blood flow, · stage, cholesterol level, cardiac muscle, arterial wall, vessel wall, heart disease, blood flow coronary, flow coronary arteries, blocked coronary artery, coronary artery disease, vascular injury involving,