The coronary arteries are blood vessels that exit the heart and then circle back to the heart to supply the heart muscle itself with fresh, oxygenated blood with each beat. Without this blood supply, the heart muscle can’t survive.
Many things effect the coronary arteries and it’s so important to take care of yourself with proper diet (recommendations for “healthy diet” change and can be confusing), frequent aerobic exercise, rest, decreased stress and annual physical exam. Family history of heart disease and overall genetics can play a part in how healthy your heart is, but you may not be aware you have Coronary Artery disease – the blockage of the arteries that feed the heart with oxygenated blood.
It is beyond the scope of this mission, but staying educated on the best ways to take care of your heart health is so very important. Also important is the need to investigate if you have CAD and get the treatment you need to save your life. My ultimate wish is to have primary care physicians have all their patients get a baseline screening of CAD (with Coronary Artery Calcium scan, or Coronary CT angiogram) around age 50 to identify the risk of sudden heart attack.
Why is There No Such Thing as a Sudden Heart Attack?
Plaque (which is made of calcium, fats, cholesterol) can start to build up in all the arteries of the body, but especially the coronary arteries at any point in your life, depending on many things (overall health, sedentary lifestyle, smoking, poor diet, etc). It is a gradual buildup and it doesn’t happen overnight. The risk of heart attack is there if a person has CAD, and we need to identify that disease sooner. If we did a better job of screening for Coronary Artery Disease before it became life-threatening, treatment and improved lifestyle choices could possible save many lives.