Ischemic heart disease

Ischemic heart disease arises when a patient has an obstruction in the arteries feeding their heart (coronary artery disease).  The older you become and if you smoke, have high blood pressure, diabetes or high cholesterol, your risk of IHD increases.  Ischemic heart disease is the leading killer among adults in the United States.

Ischemic heart disease can cause angina (chest pain during exercise) and can bring on a myocardial infarction, otherwise known as a heart attack.  Ischemia may be caused by a high fat diets and little or no exercise, which may also lead to angina.

Angina

The major indication of Angina is pain over the mid chest that sometimes radiates down the left arm, to the jaw or back.  The existence of episodes of angina is in essence diagnostic of Ischemic Heart Disease.  The symptoms of angina pectoris can commonly be controlled by beta-blockers, nitrates and calcium-channel blockers.  Beta blockers have also proven to decrease the risk of troubling cardiac events in patients with angina.



Heart Attack

Most heart attacks are caused by Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), a plaque that has built up on the walls inside your coronary arteries.  These are the arteries that oxygen and blood to your heart.  This plaque can break off and cause a blood clot which can block your artery to which no blood or oxygen can flow, thus causing a Heart Attack or Myocardial Infarction.



So, please be sure to take care of your self by eating healthy and exercising frequently.  Get regular checkups and if you have any question that you may be having angina or a heart attack please seek medical attention right away.