Damage to the muscles of the heart due to atherosclerosis of the coronary vessels. The mechanism of development of vascular atherosclerosis

  • Date: 25.04.2019

Among the heart diseases is ischemic heart disease. The cause of its development is atherosclerosis of the vessels of the heart. A complication of the problem is that the development initial stages diseases are practically not accompanied by symptoms.

If atherosclerosis can be detected on early stages, then this will have a positive effect on treatment: you can get significant changes in the vessels and reduce the likelihood of complications.

Until recently, atherosclerosis was found only in people over 45 years old. Now there is a tendency to "rejuvenate" the disease.

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What is pathology

Atherosclerosis coronary vessels heart (ICD code - 10) is a chronic disease, accompanied by the formation and growth of fatty plaques. The latter arise from the accumulation of cholesterol on the walls of blood vessels, as well as lipoproteins, which have a low density. The more of these "helpers", the more plaques grow.

Over time, they begin to close the lumen in the arteries. This leads to the fact that the flow of blood in them decreases and as a result may stop altogether.

As a result, problems arise with the organs that receive oxygen and nutrients from this "blocked" flow. This leads to organ ischemia, oxygen starvation and impaired performance.

Atherosclerosis does not occur in one minute. This takes years. Initially, atherosclerosis begins to occur in her youth.

At first, it develops slowly, but with the transition to the second half of life, the disease begins to progress and makes itself felt after 45 years.

Plaques of deposited cholesterol can "infect" arteries in any part of the body. Arteries may be affected lower limbs, renal, brain, mesenteric vessels, aorta. But the most affected are the coronary vessels, which supply blood to the heart.

The seriousness of the problem is that the coronary vessels are tortuous, highly branched and rather narrow. They are the first to be "attacked" by plaques and "overgrown".

But the development of atherosclerosis is not always accompanied by obvious symptoms. There are cases when a patient suffers from a disease for a long time, but does not feel any symptoms on himself. This can be explained by the fact that the brain and kidneys are in dire need of oxygen.

But the heart is not, since the need for oxygen arises when physical activity organism. So at rest, 5 liters of blood flows through the heart, while during physical activity - 30 liters / min. In proportion to the increase in the amount of blood, oxygen demand arises.

In the event of atherosclerosis, the vessels underlying the heart are "clogged" with plaques and do not allow the required volume of blood to pass into the heart. In this case, the plaques compact the walls of the vessels and prevent them from expanding normally. This all leads to a failure of the myocardial circulation.

The resulting myocardial ischemia due to developing atherosclerosis is called ischemic heart disease (otherwise IHD).

Causes

Atherosclerosis is a lesion of the arterial vessels of the whole body. Therefore, atherosclerosis of the coronary and cerebral vessels is the same.

The disease occurs for the following reasons:

  • the presence of diseases such as diabetes and obesity;
  • bad habits such as smoking and overuse alcohol;
  • increased blood cholesterol levels;
  • inactivity;
  • arterial hypertension;
  • unhealthy diet accompanied by consumption a large number carbohydrates, animal fats, salt and ignoring or low consumption of fish, vegetables, oils vegetable origin and fruits.

Symptoms

Since coronary heart disease and atherosclerosis of the coronary vessels are one and the same, their symptoms are the same. There are two types of coronary artery disease:

Angina pectoris is closely related to atherosclerosis and its clinic. This disease is accompanied by pain in the chest caused by a lack of blood supply to the myocardium due to vasoconstriction by plaques.

Such pain attacks usually last no more than 15 minutes, are observed during the period of physical activity and stop after its completion.

Put away pain it is possible with nitroglycerin, leading to the expansion of the coronary vessels, due to which the blood begins to flow to the heart in the right amount.

Depending on how severe the atherosclerosis of the aorta of the coronary vessels, angina pectoris and myocardial ischemia can manifest itself in equal severity.

In addition, the symptoms and their strength directly depend on what kind of physical activity the body is undergoing.

Angina pectoris is distinguished by several functional classes:

Diagnostics

Initially, atherosclerosis of the coronary vessels can be suspected by ECG, where signs of myocardial ischemia are clearly manifested. You can also suspect the presence of plaques using the following research methods:

Myocardial stress scintigraphy This method allows you to determine not only the place of localization of atherosclerotic plaques, but also in which vessel the most dangerous are located.
Intravascular ultrasound Doppler is also used.
Ultrasound of the heart and DEHO-KG Using this method, it is possible to determine structural changes: wall thickness, chamber size, identify the presence of sections with no or reduced contractility, hemodynamics and morphology of the valves.
Coronary angiography This is nothing more than an X-ray examination with preliminary contrast management. This allows you to identify where the affected vessels are located, what is the length of the affected area and what is the narrowing of the vessel.

Treatment of atherosclerosis of the coronary vessels

Treatment of the disease is assigned to each patient individually. As a rule, appoint drug therapy, and a variety of procedures to help eliminate excess cholesterol in the blood.

Drug treatment is prescribed to eliminate metabolic syndrome, correct various disorders accompanying the disease, and normalize heat exchange. As a rule, the following medications are prescribed:

  1. Preparations that can increase energy metabolism.
  2. Medicines that prevent the blood from absorbing cholesterol.
  3. Medicines that prevent the production of triglycerides and cholesterol, as well as lower their levels in blood plasma.

Additionally, the following can be prescribed: Anginin, Aevit, Vasoprostan, etc.

Folk remedies

For the treatment of atherosclerosis of the aorta is also used alternative medicine... Only at the same time it is necessary to remember that such treatment cannot in any way be used as a substitute for the prescribed treatment by a doctor. But in parallel, it is possible, since herbs help to eliminate symptoms, break down fat cells in the blood, and normalize metabolic processes.

To clean the vessels, you can use the following recipes:

Medicinal collection of pre-crushed licorice, wheatgrass and dandelion roots (10g, 20g and 10g, respectively)
  • The dry mass is poured with half a liter of boiling water and put on a small fire for about half an hour.
  • If desired, you can add sugar or honey.
  • The prepared and filtered broth is drunk 2-3 times a day for 1 tablespoon.
  • This recipe is good for multifocal atherosclerosis.
Nutrition correction
  • Requires the use of products with big amount vitamins, as well as those capable of breaking down fat cells and removing them from the body.
  • For example, it can be raw sunflower seeds and in the amount of 1-2 tbsp. per day or 1/2 tbsp. chokeberry.
(leech therapy)
  • This method is often prescribed in parallel with drug treatment.
  • The fact is that the saliva of leeches contains an enzyme that prevents blood from clotting.
  • And this, in turn, reduces the likelihood of thrombosis.

No matter which method unconventional treatment you have chosen, it needs to be carried out only with the permission and under the supervision of your attending physician.

Diet

In order to prevent the development of atherosclerosis of the coronary vessels and reduce symptoms, it is necessary to follow a diet. For this, foods rich in cholesterol are excluded from the diet, namely:

  • egg yolks;
  • Salo;
  • fatty meats;
  • kidneys;
  • solid animal fats;
  • brain.

Add to your diet foods that are able to cleanse the body of cholesterol, namely: oatmeal, cabbage, low-fat cottage cheese, potatoes.

Use vegetable oils instead of animal fats. Don't forget vegetables, whole grains, and fruits.

Prophylaxis

If the patient has already found atherosclerosis even of the initial stage, then you need to immediately prescribe treatment followed by long recovery the whole body and in order to avoid escalating into a more serious stage.

Atherosclerosis is a chronic type of disease, therefore, medications are prescribed for the patient, which must be drunk for life. To reduce atherosclerotic plaques, it is recommended:

  1. Follow a special diet that reduces the intake of cholesterol in the body.
  2. Engage in physiotherapy exercises.
  3. Give up completely bad habits.
All this, combined with adherence to the doctor's prescriptions, will avoid unnecessary dangerous consequences.

Long time it was believed that atherosclerosis of the vessels of the heart is a problem exclusively for elderly men. But with development medical science and with modern diagnostic capabilities, the pathological process has become possible to determine in women and even children. V last years The incidence of atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries has increased several times.

This phenomenon is predominantly the prerogative of patients from capitalist countries who eat fast food, do little active image life, sit at computers for a long time and devote little time to disease prevention.

What is atherosclerosis coronary arteries? Atherosclerotic lesion is a variant of the development of systemic and complex pathological condition, in which fatty deposits, known as cholesterol plaques, accumulate on the intima of the vessels. These plaques enlarge and calcify over time, significantly narrowing the lumen of the arteries and obstructing normal blood flow. As a result, there is oxygen starvation of organs, disruption of their functioning and the formation of ischemic zones (tissue necrosis).

Many patients learn what atherosclerosis is from their attending physician at a stage when the disease is already firmly rooted in their body. It is important to understand that this pathological process does not occur suddenly. It has been forming for decades and only at the stage of decompensation manifests itself as a certain form of its development. At the same time, atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries is not the only manifestation of the disease. Deposition of cholesterol deposits on inner wall vessels occurs throughout the body, complexly disrupting the normal functioning of the organs and systems of the patient's body.

Why does coronary atherosclerosis develop?

Atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries of the heart is a manifestation of a complex pathological process that affects other vessels of the human body. The disease makes itself felt mainly at an older age, although the first deposits on the vascular intima may appear in childhood. Among the reasons for the development of atherosclerosis of the heart, scientists distinguish:

  • increased content of animal fats and simple carbohydrates in the diet;
  • salt abuse;
  • neglect of foods that contain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, including sea fish and vegetable oils;
  • reduced consumption of vegetables, herbs, berries and fruits;
  • metabolic disorders: hyperglycemia, obesity;
  • increased levels of bad cholesterol in the blood;
  • insufficient level of physical activity;
  • high blood pressure;
  • stressful situations;
  • hereditary factors;
  • bad habits.

Clinical picture

Clinically coronary atherosclerosis, the symptoms of which are indicative ischemic disease heart, is manifested by acute and chronic pathological conditions, which lead to dysfunction of the heart muscle.

The most common manifestation coronary atherosclerosis and ischemic heart disease, which is manifested by short-term painful sensations behind the breastbone with irradiation in left hand, left earlobe or epigastric region. Angina pectoris, as a rule, are accompanied by shortness of breath and disappear after taking nitroglycerin. The acute form of atherosclerosis of the coronary vessels of the heart - ischemic infarction - has a similar symptomatology. Only the pains in this case are permanent, are particularly intense and do not disappear after the use of drugs from the nitrate group.

Symptoms of coronary atherosclerosis depend on the localization of the pathological process and the degree of narrowing of the lumen of the cardiac vessels. At chronic course disease in patients are noted, signs of heart and chronic heart failure. The more the occlusion of the coronary vessels, the more often and brighter the symptoms of the underlying ailment will appear: the pain will become more intense, shortness of breath will begin to appear at rest, and the like.

Stenosing atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries in some cases may be asymptomatic. As a rule, this variant of the pathological process is dangerous by development acute forms diseases that often cause deaths... Among them, it is worth highlighting sudden cardiac death, as well as atherothrombosis, which occurs against the background of blockage of narrow sections of the heart vessels with torn off fragments of atherosclerotic plaque.

In general, the symptoms and treatment of a disease such as cardiac atherosclerosis depend on the manifestations of the underlying ailment, which is determined in the course of numerous laboratory and instrumental studies, with confirmation of the presence of one or another form of ischemic heart disease in a sick person.

Diagnostics

The doctor can suspect atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries of the heart in a patient, thanks to the data of the EKG and Echo-KG studies. Based on their results, it is possible to determine the presence of zones of myocardial ischemia, an increase in the size of the heart chambers, the thickness of their walls and rhythm disturbances. It is possible to assume that a large atherosclerotic plaque is located, which makes it possible to stress scintigraphy - a method that allows you to assess the localization and size of the ischemic area.

To more accurately determine the presence of cholesterol deposits on the vessel wall, the following methods allow:

  • contrast coronary angiography - method X-ray diagnostics with the introduction of a contrast agent into the human body, which makes it possible to determine the presence and estimate the size of the plaque, the degree of narrowing of the vessel lumen, and the like;
  • ultrasound intravascular examination makes it possible to examine cholesterol deposits in detail, assess their location, size, and features of their formation.

Modern approaches to treatment

Nobody has been able to completely cure atherosclerosis of the coronary vessels. Nowadays everyone therapeutic measures in relation to this ailment are symptomatic and aimed at preventing the development of life-threatening complications of the underlying disease. Anti-atherosclerotic treatment has two goals:

  1. Decrease clinical manifestations ischemic heart disease and prevention of its progression.
  2. Medication effect on the atherosclerotic process, which helps prevent the spread of the pathological condition.

Before treating coronary atherosclerosis, the doctor recommends that the patient change his lifestyle, get rid of bad habits and start eating right. Special diet plays a special role in the therapy of a pathological condition. It can help prevent high levels of bad cholesterol in the blood and reduce weight.

Patients are advised to eat more fresh vegetables and fruits, lean fish, white meat, and vegetable oils rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids that help dissolve fresh atherosclerotic plaques.

Drug therapy involves the appointment of drugs to patients that reduce the need for myocardial cells in oxygen, protect the heart muscle, reduce the level of stress on it and normalize the rhythm. In parallel, specialists prescribe drugs to patients with coronary artery disease that lower blood cholesterol levels and prevent the growth of atherosclerotic plaques on the intima.

It is difficult to treat vascular atherosclerosis, especially if the disease has already borne fruit, in the form of acute forms of coronary heart disease. Needed here A complex approach to therapy and the patient's desire to change his life for the better. But sometimes this is not enough. In some cases, coronary atherosclerosis is diagnosed at stages when the lumen of the arteries is narrowed by more than 70%. Such a state is practically impossible. drug correction Therefore, doctors offer such patients alternative surgical techniques with excision of cholesterol plaques or coronary artery bypass grafting.

In any case, it is important to remember that the atherosclerotic process is always easier to prevent than to get rid of its consequences later. Therefore, each person should take care of the health of his heart even in his youth: give up bad habits, eat right and lead an active lifestyle.

Is a gradually developing chronic illness, which is characterized by the deposition of cholesterol on the walls of blood vessels. First symptoms this disease should alert any person, because advanced stage- this is inevitable death.

The essence of pathology

How does the blockage of the vessel occur? Not immediately: throughout years cholesterol, or lipoprotein of varying density, accumulates in the blood. These substances, being in the walls of the vessel, accumulate over time and expand them, gradually blocking the artery. The blood carries too little oxygen through a very narrowed lumen to normal work organ feeding from this artery. As a result, ischemia develops against the background of constant oxygen starvation.

Coronary atherosclerosis develops throughout a person's life: from adolescence to 50-55 years. During this period, the patient begins to feel the first signs of the disease, which all developed in his body.

The disease affects not only the coronary arteries, plaques appear absolutely everywhere, throughout circulatory system... However, the most dangerous of them are localized in the renal artery, in the mesenteric vessels, in the arteries of the legs. And most importantly, in the arteries that feed.

Most often, atherosclerosis affects the coronary arteries. This is due to the very structure of these vessels, which have complex branching, in addition, they are very thin, with small gaps. Such a structure is easily affected by cholesterol plaques.

Atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries does not always have pronounced symptoms. For example, if a cholesterol plaque overlapped renal artery, a person can live and not notice pathology in his body. This is due to the fact that the required amount of oxygen for the kidney does not change in any situation. While for the heart, the amount of oxygen consumed is directly proportional to the load exerted on it. V calm state the heart is able to pump about 5 liters of blood while running or active games this volume increases 5 times. In other words, the load on the myocardium turns out to be colossal, therefore, its oxygen demand increases significantly. Such a situation, when atherosclerotic vessels are clogged and do not supply oxygen to the myocardium, is called.

Symptoms of the disease

Atherosclerosis, which affects the coronary arteries, is the same as coronary artery disease. It is subdivided into various forms severity. Chronic form the disease is characterized by angina pectoris, arrhythmia, chronic heart failure. Acute is manifested by myocardial infarction, unstable angina and sudden stop hearts.

Atherosclerosis is still most often characterized by exertional angina. The symptoms of this disease appear when the load increases, when not enough oxygen is supplied through the artery blocked by the cholesterol plaque, and the person begins to feel pain in the chest.

These symptoms are of a short-term nature, since upon return to normal state body pain goes away. In addition, pain can be neutralized with nitroglycerin, which tends to dilate the coronary artery, which increases the flow of oxygen to the myocardium.

Pain symptoms are expressed depending on the severity of the load. This allows the degree of the disease to be distributed according to the so-called functional class. That is, in the first functional class, chest pain appears after significant physical activity such as running a few kilometers. The second functional class is a low load when Everyday life person, walking up the stairs to several floors, a short run. And the third functional class includes pain, which is constant under any load.

Causes of the onset and development of pathology

Atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries occurs for the same reasons as in principle. Cholesterol plaques in all vessels are formed by common reasons for this pathology:


Diagnosis of the disease

Coronary artery atherosclerosis is diagnosed using modern hardware. The more accurately it is possible to establish the location of the cholesterol plaque, its size, the higher the likelihood of favorable treatment. To do this, apply:


Treatment of the disease

Treatment of the disease is aimed at eliminating the causes of the appearance of cholesterol plaques, at removing existing formations and at the very ischemic heart disease.

For this, a person undergoes a rather difficult course of treatment:

  1. The patient is prescribed a course of drugs that reduce myocardial oxygen demand.
  2. At the same time, the patient takes drugs that prevent the formation of cholesterol plaques, as well as lower cholesterol levels in general.
  3. A prerequisite for recovery is compliance correct diet, completely excluding fatty fried foods from the patient's diet, food containing an abundance of salt, hot peppers and smoked meats. The patient's diet should henceforth contain vitamins, calcium and others. useful minerals... The diet should help a person get rid of excess weight.
  4. Physical therapy or sports recommended by a cardiologist.
  5. The patient must categorically stop smoking and drinking alcohol: not only during therapy, but also in the future.
  6. Treatment of diseases disease-causing vessels: hypertension and diabetes mellitus.

Dieting

All procedures and therapeutic measures are prescribed by a doctor. Compliance with them and the fulfillment of the instructions are mandatory exactly to the extent specified by the specialist. Otherwise, the treatment will not give results - pills alone in such a situation will not help the body.

Mortality from coronary heart disease is quite high - it is inherently the main cause of death in people over 50. The quality of life in this case completely depends on the patient's will: on his desire to live a normal healthy life.

Video

The most terrible enemy of any inhabitant of the planet over 50 years old, an insidious enemy that suddenly overtakes and changes life once and for all. An enemy to be known by sight. Meet - atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries.

The truly frightening data is provided by medical statistics - every second death in the world is due to coronary heart disease. The reason for which is atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries. This has always been the case, except for the times of all-out military battles. The saddest thing is that from year to year these readings change for the worse. This is despite the fact that medicine continues to develop, regional vascular centers are opening, designed to resolve the current situation, new medicines are being produced. Let's try to figure out what kind of disease it is and how to defeat it.

With a significant narrowing of the arteries and arterioles (the smallest vessels) of the heart, their defeat by the atherosclerotic process, the heart does its job worse and worse. At rest, pain is most often not bothering, but when walking, running, lifting weights or strong feelings, the heart starts to work faster. It is then that characteristic pains appear in the patient. As a rule, a person complains of a squeezing sensation, similar to a feeling of heaviness, points with his hand to the center of the chest or left side... At rest, the pain goes away. This condition is called angina pectoris in medicine. In more severe cases, when atherosclerosis of the coronary vessels of the heart is even more common, similar pain occurs even with the slightest movement.

Why does my heart ache?

At the beginning of the disease, a person usually does not feel sick - he has no complaints, unpleasant sensations... For a long time, atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries of the heart proceeds painlessly, without making itself felt. As a rule, with an increase in atherosclerotic plaque and its bulging into the lumen of the vessel, the first symptoms appear. The vessel that supplies blood to the heart muscle becomes narrow. Blood flows through it worse. There is a lack of oxygen and the heart begins to cope poorly with the load. The body suffers, roughly speaking, from malnutrition. In medicine, there is a well-known expression "pain in the heart is his cry for help."

Disease development

Angina is a disease that can bother a person for decades in a row. However, more often the disease progresses. If you do not pay enough attention to treatment, atherosclerosis continues to grow and a heart attack develops.

At the molecular level, the cause of a heart attack is stenosing atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries . That is, a huge, total damage to the vessels of the heart. It happens something like this - the lining of the plaque ruptures and blood particles begin to "stick" to the liquid nucleus, creating a clot. The already narrow vessel is completely closed. In its lumen, inflammation begins. And in that part of the muscle that was supplied from this vessel, a catastrophe occurs. Having ceased to receive nutrition, the muscle dies. At this moment, the patient feels a sharp, unbearable chest pain, fear, shortness of breath may appear. It is this moment that is critical for life. Some survive, some do not. It depends primarily on how extensive the affected area is. Of course, the age and condition of the patient and his other chronic diseases play a role.

How to fight

The very first question that patients ask is whether atherosclerosis can be cured. Definitely not. There is no such medicine that would cause the reverse development of the process, reduction or disappearance of the plaque. Treatment is to stabilize the situation. Slow down the growth of atherosclerosis, and in the best case, stop it altogether. Ideally, you should think about this before symptoms appear. However, later it becomes literally a vital necessity.

As corny as it sounds, you should start by changing your lifestyle. Namely, with proper nutrition... The fats that make up the plaque mostly come from the fats we eat. It should be borne in mind that only animal fats should be considered "guilty" in the formation of atherosclerosis - they are the ones that are dangerous. Vegetable fats do not cause the growth of atherosclerosis. Butter, cream, fatty meat - these are the foods that need to be strictly limited. On the contrary, vegetables, fruits, cereals are extremely healthy products. Their content should make up the majority of the diet. Vegetable oils are given great attention, they should replace butter, if possible.

In addition to nutrition, metabolism is of great importance. A person with increased body weight is much more at risk of developing coronary heart disease. In addition, the tendency to atherosclerosis increases diabetes mellitus, especially poorly treated diabetes with high blood sugar levels.

Heredity makes a significant contribution to morbidity. Atherosclerosis of the aorta and coronary arteries can develop even in young age and proceed very aggressively if the patient has a genetic predisposition. It can be detected by tests that show the content of total cholesterol and its fractions in the blood. The fact is that one of the types of blood fats is the most dangerous. Therefore, it is very important to do a detailed analysis. In case of a serious violation of lipid metabolism, an increase in "bad" cholesterol - LDL (more than 3) and an increase in total cholesterol (more than 5) - are revealed.

Drug treatment

There are medications that can affect fat metabolism. They are called statins, and they suppress the increase in "bad" cholesterol that causes atherosclerosis to increase. Statins also reduce total blood cholesterol levels. According to some scientific data, these drugs can even slightly reduce the size of atherosclerotic plaques, but you should not seriously count on this.

The appointment and selection of the dose of drugs of this kind should be carried out only by a doctor. Like any other medicines, they have a number of side effects, for example, affect liver function. For this reason, they are prescribed strictly according to indications, focusing on analyzes and the severity of the disease. Timely intake of statins in suitable dosages is one of the most powerful means of preventing atherosclerosis.

Operation

It would seem that the size of the affected vessels in coronary heart disease is very small for surgery. But fortunately, modern medicine maybe even that. With severe angina pectoris or acute heart attack a special intervention is performed - coronary angiography. A microscopic sensor is inserted into the heart vessel and a contrast is injected. With high magnification, doctors can see where blood flow is obstructed and correct the problem. With a special balloon, the narrowing site is expanded and a stent is installed - a mesh-like structure that increases the lumen. This operation is performed under local anesthesia... Moreover, the autopsy chest not required, just a small puncture on the arm or thigh.

Stenting could be considered a salvation, if not for one thing. The vessels on which the intervention took place are again affected by atherosclerosis, if you do not take statins and a number of other medications. After the operation, the patient is simply obliged to take medications for life, according to a certain scheme.

In summary, we can say that atherosclerosis is really enemy number one. But seeing it from all sides, we can successfully repel the attacks. The main thing is to act on time and wisely.

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What is atherosclerosis?

Atherosclerosis is a gradual process in which plaques (clumps) of cholesterol are deposited on the walls of the arteries. Cholesterol plaques cause hardening of the artery walls and narrowing of the inner channel of the artery (lumen). Arteries narrowed by atherosclerosis cannot deliver enough blood to support the normal functioning of the body parts they supply. For example, arterial atherosclerosis causes a decrease in blood flow to the legs. Decreased blood flow in the legs may accordingly cause leg pain when walking or exercising, trophic ulcer, longer healing of wounds on the legs. Atherosclerosis of the arteries that supply blood to the brain can lead to vascular dementia (mental deterioration due to the gradual death of brain tissue over many years) or stroke (sudden death of brain tissue).

In many people, atherosclerosis can remain latent (without showing symptoms or health problems) for many years or even decades. Atherosclerosis can develop starting in adolescence, but all symptoms and health problems usually appear during adulthood, when the arteries are already significantly narrowed. Cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels and diabetes mellitus can accelerate the development of atherosclerosis and lead to earlier onset of symptoms and complications, especially in people with a family history of atherosclerosis in early age.

Coronary heart diseases include:

  • Sudden death
  • Chest pain (angina)
  • Abnormal heart rhythms
  • Heart failure due to a weakened heart muscle

Coronary atherosclerosis (or coronary arterial disease) refers to atherosclerosis, which causes hardening and narrowing of the coronary arteries. Diseases resulting from decreased blood flow to the heart muscle due to coronary atherosclerosis are called coronary heart disease (CHD).

Heart attack in coronary artery atherosclerosis

Sometimes the surface of the cholesterol plaque can rupture and a blood clot forms on the surface. The clot blocks the passage of blood through an artery and causes a heart attack. The cause of rupture that leads to clot formation is largely unknown, but cigarette smoking or other nicotine effects, elevated LDL (low density lipoprotein) cholesterol, high level catecolamine (adrenaline) in the blood, high blood pressure and other mechanical and biochemical causes.

In contrast to angina pectoris of exertion or rest during a heart attack, the heart muscle dies and this loss is irreversible. Although heart attacks can occur at any time of the day, most of them occur between 4:00 and 10:00. This is due to the fact that the level of adrenaline produced by the adrenal glands in the blood rises in the morning. Increased adrenaline levels, as discussed above, can cause cholesterol plaques to rupture.

Approximately 50% of people with heart attacks have warning symptoms, such as exertional or rest angina, before the onset, but these symptoms are mild and ignored.

Although family history and being male are genetically determined, other risk factors can be avoided by changing and administering medications.

Factors that increase your risk of atherosclerosis and heart attacks include: high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, tobacco use, diabetes mellitus, male sex, family history of coronary heart disease.

High blood cholesterol (hyperlipemia)

High blood cholesterol levels are associated with an increased risk of heart attack, since cholesterol is a major component of the plaque that builds up on the walls of arteries. Cholesterol, like oil, can dissolve in the blood only when combined with special proteins called lipoproteins. (Without a connection with lipoproteins, cholesterol in the blood turns into a solid substance). Cholesterol in the blood combines with any lipoproteins: low-density lipoproteins (LDL), low-density lipoproteins (LDL), lipoproteins high density(HDL). Cholesterol, combined with low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, is the "bad" cholesterol that precipitates cholesterol in arterial plaques. Therefore, an increased level of LDL cholesterol has been associated with an increased risk of heart attack. Cholesterol combined with HDL (HDL cholesterol) is the "good" cholesterol that removes cholesterol from arterial plaques. Therefore, lower HDL cholesterol levels have been linked to an increased risk of heart attack. Practice shows that activities that lower LDL cholesterol and / or raise HDL cholesterol (losing weight, dieting less saturated fat, exercising regularly, using medications) reduce the risk of heart attack.

One of the most important classes medicinal substances assigned at elevated level cholesterol (statins), in addition to their cholesterol-lowering action, it also has a protective effect against heart attack. Many patients at high risk of developing a heart attack must take statins regardless of their blood cholesterol levels.

Hypertension - high blood pressure

High blood pressure is a risk factor for atherosclerosis and heart attack. Both high systolic (when the heart is beating) and diastolic (when the heart is at rest) pressures increase the risk of a heart attack. It has been proven that by controlling with medicines, the risk of heart attack can be reduced.

Tobacco use (smoking)

Tobacco and tobacco smoke contain chemicals that damage the walls blood vessels, accelerate the development of atherosclerosis and increase the risk of heart attack.

Diabetes

Both insulin-dependent and non-insulin-dependent types of diabetes mellitus (types 1 and 2, respectively) are accompanied by increased atherosclerosis the whole organism. As a result, patients with diabetes mellitus there is a risk of weakening blood flow to the legs, coronary heart disease, erectile dysfunction, strokes at an earlier age than in non-diabetic individuals. Patients with diabetes can reduce their risk by strictly controlling their blood sugar levels by performing physical exercises, keeping your weight under control, following the necessary diet.

Male

Men at any age are more at risk of developing atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease than women. Many scientists believe that this difference is due to the higher levels of HDL (high-density alpha lipoprotein) cholesterol in the blood of women than in men. However, with age, this difference appears less and less.

Family history of coronary heart disease

Patients who have a family history of coronary heart disease are at increased risk of having a heart attack. At the same time, the risk is higher if these were cases of coronary heart disease at a young age, including heart attacks or sudden death under the age of 55 for fathers or other male relatives of the first degree of relationship, or under the age of 65 for mothers or other female relatives of the first degree of relationship.

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