Blocked Artery

Last week, we covered the key facts of the heart and its main function, and we
established that heart disease is all the different things that can mess up the
blood flow to the heart, the muscle of the heart, the valves, etc.
So, let’s not spend time on rare and unusual things like problems with the sack or
diseases that inhibit the muscle itself from functioning. Let’s talk about the most
common problems of the heart. These are problems that you can decrease your
risk for.
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common heart problem. Remember
how the heart itself needs blood flow? Well, the coronaries are the arteries that
bring that blood to the heart muscle. When they get plugged up or damaged, that
affects the blood flow. This type of damage leads to heart attacks and also heart
failure. So, if we want to avoid heart attacks and heart failure, we want to avoid
CAD.
Next week, I’ll be answering this crucial question about protecting the health of
your heart: How can you decrease your risk of CAD?

Jeff Davenport,MD