Coronary Artery Disease

To explain what coronary artery disease is, it’s important to understand what plaque is. Over time, this fatty substance can build up on your artery walls and restrict the vessels that supply blood, oxygen and nutrients to your heart.

Coronary artery disease occurs when excess cholesterol leaves waxy deposits in the arteries leading to and from the heart.

Since there are often no symptoms, many people don't realize they have coronary artery disease until they experience severe heart problems or a heart attack.

Adopting healthy habits can greatly reduce your risk of developing coronary artery disease.

Prevention tips include:

• Avoiding tobacco
• Controlling your blood pressure
• Eating a low-fat, low-salt diet
• Exercising regularly
• Getting enough sleep
• Limiting alcohol consumption
• Maintaining a healthy weight
• Managing stress

Coronary artery disease has multiple risk factors. Some are controllable, while others — like family history, age, ethnicity and gender — are not. Managing these risk factors with lifestyle modifications can help lower your risk of CAD:

• Alcohol: Limit your alcohol consumption
• Cholesterol: High LDL or low HDL
• Diabetes: increases the risk even when glucose levels are under control
• Diet and nutrition: A healthy diet is key to fighting cardiovascular disease
• Ethnicity: being African, Asian, Mexican, and/or Native American
• Excess body weight: excess body fat leads to a higher chance of heart disease
• Gender: Men have a greater risk of heart attack than women do
• High blood pressure: 140/90 hg or higher
• Increasing age: the risk for both men and women increases significantly after 65
• Physical inactivity: Exercise is central to a healthier heart
• Stress: take steps to reduce or manage stress
• Tobacco use: smoking severely damages your heart and lungs

By recognizing the risk factors that you can change, you can take control and break lifelong habits. With your care team's help, you’ll be able to take steps toward a healthier heart and a healthier you.

Coronary artery disease symptoms may not appear until your arteries have become severely blocked. If you’re at an increased risk for this condition, you must stay on the lookout for symptoms, as blocked arteries can lead to a heart attack.

It’s important to call 911 immediately if you experience one or more of these heart attack symptoms together:

• Arm, jaw or neck pain
• Chest pain or tightness
• Heart racing or palpitations
• Cold sweat
• Feeling tired (fatigue)
• Weakness
• Shortness of breath
• Dizziness or lightheadedness
• Nausea, stomach discomfort or vomiting

While the above are the most common heart attack symptoms for everyone, women are more likely than men to experience:

• Back or jaw pain
• Dizziness or lightheadedness
• Fainting
• Upper back pressure

For some people, medication, such as beta-blockers or ACE inhibitors, can effectively control blood pressure and reduce plaque build-up in the arteries. While both medications are effective in treating CAD symptoms, they work in different ways.

Beta-blockers work by blocking adrenaline and other stress hormones, slowing your heart rate and reducing overall contraction force. ACE inhibitors work by relaxing our blood vessels, widening them and reducing blood volume and pressure.

While either medication can be used by itself, they can also be prescribed together. Talk with your doctor to determine which combination is right for you.

If you have severe coronary artery blockage, you may need surgery. Rest easier knowing you have a team of world-class cardiac surgeons on your side. Our specialists have extensive experience in some of the most complex heart surgeries available. We offer:

• Angioplasty and atherectomy
• Coronary artery bypass grafting with endoscopic vein harvesting
• Open and endovascular stenting
• Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)