Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), also called coronary heart disease, is a condition in which plaque builds up inside the coronary arteries. These arteries supply your heart muscle with oxygen-rich blood.
Plaque, a fatty waxy like substance often deposit itself on the arteries walls causes the arteries wall to thicken making blood passage narrow. When plaque builds up in the arteries, the condition is called atherosclerosis.
Plaque narrows the arteries and reduces blood flow to your heart muscle thus denying cells off nutrients and oxygen. Heart attack occurs when the bulging plaque built up in the arteries wall rupture and causes blood clots.
Overview
When your coronary arteries are narrowed or blocked, oxygen-rich blood can't reach your heart muscle. This can cause angina or a heart attack.
Angina is chest pain or discomfort that occurs when not enough oxygen-rich blood is flowing to an area of your heart muscle. Angina may feel like pressure or squeezing in your chest or sometimes flammable feeling at the chest (normally on your left hand side where the heart is located). The pain also may occur in your shoulders, arms, neck, jaw, or back.
A heart attack occurs when blood flow to an area of your heart muscle is completely blocked. This prevents oxygen-rich blood from reaching that area of heart muscle and causes it to die. Without quick treatment, a heart attack can lead to serious problems and even death.
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