Heart Disease

All muscles, including the heart, need a constant supply of oxygen and nutrients that are carried to it by the blood in the coronary arteries. When the coronary arteries become narrowed or clogged and cannot supply enough blood to the heart, the result is Coronary Heart Disease. If insufficient oxygen-carrying blood reaches the heart, the heart sometimes responds with pain called angina. The pain can be felt in the chest, left arm or shoulder. At times, this inadequate blood supply causes no symptoms and is called silent angina.

A heart attack results when the blood supply is cut off completely. The portion of the heart that receives inadequate oxygen begins to die, and some of the heart muscle can be permanently damaged.

Coronary Heart Disease is caused by a thickening of the inside walls of the coronary arteries or atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis narrows the space through which blood can flow which decreases and sometimes completely cuts off the oxygen supply and nutrients to the heart.