The Heart in Health and Disease
Heart disease by the numbers
Atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries, also called coronary artery disease (CAD), causes significant loss of life and disability.
Here are some of the numbers:
- Every 40 seconds, someone in the United States will have a heart attack
- 805,000 Americans will have a heart attack each year
- 1 person our of every 20 adults has coronary artery disease
- Risk increases in men over 45 years of age and women over 50 years of age
Low-Dose Cardiac CT Imaging is uniquely suited to evaluate the presence and severity of plaque in the coronary arteries.
The body is a marvel of biological engineering. Each organ develops per code prescribed by our DNA to provide specific functions. The organs of our body work harmoniously in the background to sustain life. The heart is especially amazing to us at My Heart Vision. We want to help you maintain optimal heart health so you can enjoy life to the fullest.
The heart is composed of a muscle, valves, an electrical system, and arteries that are all contained within a sac called the pericardium. The muscle of the heart is unique in the body. It continues to contract and relax 24/7/365 pumping blood to all the other organs. The blood travels through a large blood vessel called the aorta. While any of the components of the heart can suffer from disease and thereby interfere with the pumping action of the heart, the most common cause of heart muscle damage is the build-up of plaque in the arteries that supply the heart muscle with oxygen delivered by the red blood cells. We call these coronary arteries. You can see from this beautiful 3D cardiac CT image that the coronary arteries start at the aorta and course along the surface of the heart to provide blood to the heart muscle cells via smaller and smaller microscopic blood vessels.
The plaque that builds up in the coronary arteries is called atherosclerosis, which literally means hardening of the arteries. But early plaque formation that starts with infiltration of cholesterol into the artery wall is not at all hard early on. We refer to this as soft plaque. Over time calcium deposits build up in areas of soft plaque. Besides migration of LDL-cholesterol particles into the artery wall, there are multiple other contributors to plaque development including high cholesterol levels, tobacco use, hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes, inflammatory diet, air pollution and microplastics.
Plaque build-up in the coronary arteries occurs gradually over the decades. When the plaque build-up reduces the diameter of the arteries by 50% or more, blood flow to the heart muscle may be reduced during activity causing discomfort in the chest area. We call this angina pectoris. Some people may experience angina with emotional stress as well. For some people with blocked arteries, they only have shortness of breath and not chest discomfort. The coronary arteries can also become suddenly narrowed. This occurs when plaque ruptures and triggers clotting of the blood in the coronary arteries. Symptoms include chest discomfort, shortness of breath, nausea, sweating. We call this a myocardial infarction, which is commonly referred to as a “heart attack”. It is a medical emergency that needs immediate evaluation in the nearest emergency room.