Dealing With Coronary Heart Disease

As early as your teenage years, fat cells can begin to accumulate in your blood vessel walls. Over time, the fat builds up, putting a strain on the walls, and triggers the release of chemicals that make the walls sticky as the body attempts to repair itself. In the process, other things stick to your blood vessel walls; things such as protein, calcium, inflammatory cells, which fuses with the fat to create a hardened plaque.

Blood clots form when the hard surface of the plaque rips or tears and platelets arrive in the area. Sometimes, new blood vessels form to circumvent the blood around the trouble spot, but sometimes the clot blocks off the whole area or the new vessels don't work quickly enough during times of exertion. This is the making of coronary heart disease, a serious medical condition that will kill 13 million Americans this year.

Most people with coronary heart disease don't realize they have it until it's too late, even though basic medical tests can reveal telltale signs like elevated triglycerides and high cholesterol levels. Some people may experience "angina pectoris," which is the medical term for discomfort, heaviness, aching, burning, numbness or pain in the chest, left shoulder, arms, back or jaw.

Often this pain will feel similar to indigestion but won't occur around meal times. Depending on what kind of angina you're suffering from, the pain may come after exertion (stable angina), when sleeping and while out in the cold (prinzmetal's angina) or sometimes even just suddenly while resting (unstable angina). Shortness of breath, heart palpitations, dizziness, nausea and sweating often accompany the angina symptoms.

For some people, coronary heart disease seems to run in the family. However, health experts agree that many people are able to live long, healthy lives by following several key preventative measures. "If you smoke, quit," warns cardiologist Sharonne Hayes of the Women's Health Clinic in Rochester Minnesota. "That's the most powerful, preventable risk factor for heart disease." Additionally, four days per week you should be engaging in 30 minutes of moderate exercise; whether it's biking, skating, walking, jogging, swimming or aerobics. If you can't do it all at once, then three ten-minute intervals will show heart health benefits. Limiting saturated, polysaturated, monounsaturated and trans fats are important. By contrast, omega-3 fatty acids found in fish, flaxseed oil and canola oil have proven to be very effective. Furthermore, the importance of reducing your weight and getting regular health exams cannot be overstated.

In a six-year, 2,825-patient study of coronary heart disease patients, new results brought startling realization about the power of positive thinking and recovery. "A negative outlook was an independent predictor of poor outcomes," said Dr. Redford B. Williams of Duke University Medical Center. "And there seems to be something protective about having a more optimistic attitude that makes you feel that you are going to be ok." Their 2008-concluded study found that patients who were more pessimistic about recovery were twice as likely to die. Health experts at Duke University agree that meditation, behavior therapy and exercise can be the key to heart health for the most at-risk patients.

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