Coronary artery disease, or CAD, is the most common type of heart disease in the world. You might develop coronary artery disease when plaque builds up in the arteries supplying blood to your heart.
Plaque, which is a combination of fat, cholesterol, and lipids, begins to accumulate in the walls that line your blood vessels. Over time, the blood vessels become narrow and hard, leading to a condition called “atherosclerosis”. In many cases, the plaque ruptures, leading to a blood clot which further prevents blood flow through the arteries.
What are coronary artery disease symptoms?
In the beginning, you might not have symptoms of coronary artery disease because the plaque build-up takes years to show symptoms. But with time, your arteries begin to narrow, leading to interruptions in the free flow of blood to your heart. As a result, you might have some mild symptoms. In many cases, you might not discover that you have coronary artery disease symptoms until you get a heart attack. The most common coronary artery disease signs and symptoms are:
Angina
The most common coronary artery disease symptom is angina. Angina is pain or discomfort in your chest even while resting. Angina occurs when your arteries become too narrow because of excess plaque build-up. You experience pain and chest discomfort because blood flow gets blocked and reaches your heart with difficulty.
Shortness of breath
When your heart cannot pump the required blood into your body, you might experience extreme fatigue accompanied by shortness of breath.
Heart attack
When your arteries get completely blocked by plaque build-up, you might get a heart attack. The symptoms of a heart attack might be extreme pressure in your chest accompanied by pain in your chest, jaws, arms, and shoulders. You might also experience sweating and clamming. Women have fewer signs and symptoms of coronary artery disease or heart attack as compared to men.
What are coronary artery disease causes?
- Coronary artery disease is caused by an injury or damage to the inner layers of your coronary artery. The damage or injury might be caused by smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, or a sedentary or inactive lifestyle.
- When the inner layers of the artery get damaged, plaque begins to accumulate at the damaged site. If continuous plaque accumulation leads to rupture of the artery, platelets clump together to repair the rupture. But the clump further blocks the artery, which leads to a heart attack.
- You can also get coronary artery disease because of old age. With age, your arteries become narrower and tend to get more damaged.
- If you have a family history of heart disease, your chances of getting coronary artery disease increase, especially if your close relatives had heart diseases from an early age. Your chances of getting coronary artery disease are increased if your mother or sister experienced heart problems before the age of 65 or if your father or brother experienced heart problems before the age of 55.
- If you suffer from uncontrolled high blood pressure, your arteries will become narrow, hard, and thick, interrupting the flow of blood to the heart.
- High levels of cholesterol can lead to plaque formation and atherosclerosis. High levels of cholesterol can be caused by LDL or low-density lipoprotein also known as bad cholesterol.
- Diabetes can also increase the risk of coronary artery disease. Type 2 diabetes accompanied by coronary artery disease symptoms can be life-threatening.
- An unhealthy diet consisting of excessive amounts of unsaturated fats, salt, and sugar can also increase the risk of coronary artery disease.
What are the tests for coronary artery disease?
Your doctor might suggest the following tests for diagnosing coronary artery disease:
- Electrocardiogram (ECG): An ECG is conducted using electrical signals. It gives evidence of a previous heart attack, if there was any.
- Echocardiogram: An echocardiogram uses sound waves to give several images of your heart.
- Exercise stress test: If your coronary artery disease symptoms increase during exercise or physical activity, your doctor will suggest an exercise stress test.
- Angiogram: An angiogram is conducted to detect any blockages in your heart.
- Cardiac CT scan: A cardiac CT scan is conducted to check the amount of calcium deposition in your arteries which leads to coronary artery disease.
- MRI: A cardiac MRI is conducted to get a better assessment of your heart. It can diagnose blockages even in smaller sections.
Coronary artery disease can be life-threatening, but the good news is that, with proper and timely diagnosis and treatment, you can avoid the occurrence of heart-related problems. A change in lifestyle and proper treatment can extend your life expectancy.
Agilus Diagnostics, a subsidiary of Fortis Healthcare Limited
