Coronary Artery Disease Essay

Coronary artery disease is a potentially fatal and serious disease that affects the lives of many people all over the world. This disease is the most common form of cardiovascular disease in the United States. There is a serious financial impact on the population due to the prevalence and the severity of the disease. While there is no current cure to the disease, it is preventable. There currently are ways to treat coronary artery disease through lifestyle changes, pharmacotherapy, and surgery in more serious cases. Coronary artery disease is preventable through the maintenance of healthy and active lifestyles from a young age. Coronary heart disease is due to coronary artery disease (“Coronary Artery Disease”, 2016). Arteries are normally smooth and made up of elastic smooth muscle, when plaque sticks to the walls these arteries become …show more content…
The heart is then cut off from oxygen which can be detrimental and damaging to the heart muscle. If the plaque stuck to the artery walls were to rupture sudden cardiac death or a heart attack could result (WebMD: “Coronary Artery Disease”, 2016). Deposition of cholesterol rich deposits (plaques) in the inside lining of the coronary artery is the cause of coronary artery disease. The plaques are known as atheromatous plaques (atheromas) and result in thickening of the arterial wall and narrowing of the artery. The amount of blood that is able to reach the myocardium (heart muscle) is then restricted, resulting in a decrease in the amount of oxygen and nutrients that is able to reach the heart (Mandal, 2014). An atheroma develops from damage to the endothelium of the artery. The damage in the artery allows for fats, cholesterol, lipoprotein, and other particles to collect in the artery. High concentrations of LDL cholesterol go into the damaged endothelium and are oxidized. This oxidized LDL pulls white blood cells to the vessel walls, as the macrophages come to the vessel they envelope the lipoproteins and then become