Coronary heart disease: causes and risk factors

Coronary heart disease occurs when your coronary arteries become clogged with fatty material called ‘plaque’ or ‘atheroma’. Plaque slowly builds up on the inner wall of the arteries, causing them to become narrow. This process is called ‘atherosclerosis’. It can start when you are young and be well advanced by middle age.

There is no single cause for coronary heart disease, but there are ‘risk factors’ that increase your chance of developing it. There are ‘modifiable’ risk factors (ones that you can change) and ‘non-modifiable’ risk factors (ones that you can’t change). Modifiable risk factors include: smoking; high total blood cholesterol; high blood pressure; diabetes; being physically inactive; being overweight; depression, etc. Risk factors that you can’t change include increasing age, being male and having a family history of heart disease. The good news is that you can reduce your overall risk of developing coronary heart disease by leading a healthy lifestyle and taking medicines as prescribed by your doctor.

Smoking affects the arteries that supply blood to your heart and other parts of your body. It reduces the amount of oxygen in your blood and damages your artery walls. Smoking increases your risk of heart attack, stroke and peripheral arterial disease. Smoking makes your blood ‘stickier’, causing blood cells to clump together. This slows blood flow through your arteries and makes blockages more common. Blockages may cause heart attack and stroke.

Smokers often have cold hands or feet as a result of clogged arteries, which may also lead to serious problems such as gangrene. If the clogged artery is your coronary artery, it can cause angina. If a blood clot forms in the narrowed coronary artery and completely blocks the blood supply to a part of your heart, it can cause a heart attack.

Blood pressure is the pressure of the blood in your arteries (the blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients to the body) as it is pumped around the body by the heart. Blood pressure depends on two main things: the amount of blood pumped by the heart and how easily the blood can flow through the arteries.

Your blood pressure will go up and down throughout the day, depending on the time of day and what you are doing. Your family history, eating patterns, alcohol intake, weight and level of physical activity have a strong influence on blood pressure.

High blood pressure can overload the heart and coronary arteries and speed up the artery-clogging process. This can lead to problems such as heart attack and stroke.

High blood pressure can also affect arteries to other parts of the body, such as the eyes, kidneys and legs.

 

1. Decide if the statements are true (T) or false (F). Correct the false ones.
1. Young people never have atherosclerosis.

2. You can influence the process of developing atherosclerosis.

3. Healthy lifestyle increases the risk of having coronary heart disease.

4. High blood pressure can overload your stomach.

5. Your blood pressure doesn’t depend on the time of the day.

6. Men have coronary heart disease more often than women.

7. High blood pressure does not only influence your heart but some other organs as well.

 

Complete the sentences.

1) Being overweight can be a problem because ………

2) Having sticky blood can be a problem because …………

3) Having a family history of heart disease can be a problem because ………

4) Having cold hands and feet can be a big problem because ………

 

Ask questions you might ask your doctor about coronary heart disease.

Fill in the gaps to complete the summary of the article.

1. The article is about ………….

2. Its risk factors are ………….

3. Smoking ………….

4. High blood pressure ………….

 

Explain to your patient how to reduce the risk of developing coronary heart disease. Do not forget to mention the factors that cannot be changed, but must be taken into consideration (приняты во внимание).