Coronary Artery Disease

Arteries are tough elastic tubes or blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart. As arteries moves away from heart, they further divide into smaller vessels. Arteries carry oxygen rich blood away from the heart and on the other hand veins return blood to it.

Normally, arteries have three layers. The inner layer consists of a thin lining of smooth endothelial cells that are backed by fibers and also supports components. It is surrounds by a layer of muscle, which in turn is surrounded by connective tissue cells.

The largest arteries are as thick as human thumb and the thinner arteries are as thin as hair. These thinner arteries are called arterioles. Arteries have thick outer walls and also thick layers of muscles and elastic fibers.

Arteriosclerosis, often called hardening of the arteries also, this is a term which is used to describe a variety of conditions where the artery walls have thickened and lost elasticity. Atherosclerosis is one type of arteriosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is caused by fatty deposits accumulating on the inner lining of the arteries. Other arteriosclerosis conditions occur from calcification of the artery walls, or wall thickening as a result of high blood pressure.

There are four different types of arteries that are coronary, renal, carotid and mesenteric.

Surveys about arteries

A research concludes that women who are used to drink tea are 60% less likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis as compared to non tea drinkers. Another survey concludes that 50 men and women having coronary artery disease drink black tea for 8 weeks. They drank four cups of either water or tea a day for four weeks. The arteries of a healthy person release the chemical called nitric oxide which causes the artery to dilate. People with coronary artery disease produce less nitric oxide and thus the arteries do not dilate normally. The study revealed tea reverses this abnormality while drinking water had no effect.

Courtesy: Dr John Anne

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Diagnosis

To check if you may have heart health problems, your general practitioner can run several tests to be sure. Many people avoid getting tested in advance because they fear invasive pokes and prods, but most of these screening tests are very non-invasive. For instance, one test, which is a “stress test,” has you walking on a treadmill for a specific interval of time through several intensity levels, while an IV-injected tracer moves through the blood, indicating possible obstructions or strain.

Another test, the EKG, simply monitors your heart rhythms through electrical wires with adhesive ends stuck to your chest, arms and legs. An “Echocardiogram” is simply an ultrasound image taken of your chest, which is as painless as a photograph.

Most people are familiar with the usual hypertension/blood pressure test done with a cuff around your bicep. The most invasive test, which is recommended for people with a genetic predisposition, is the “Catheriterization,” which is a small tube inserted into the artery and measures the pressure within the heart.  Detailed pictures are then taken. This information shows the health of the heart muscle, blood flow and the heart’s pumping ability.

A Coronary Angiography is another popular invasive procedure that inserts dye into the blood vessels of the heart, an x-ray picture is taken. It can show problems or blockages of the heart’s blood vessels.

Cholesterol levels can be tested using a blood test at a medical centre. However the cholesterol test results are used, not so much as to diagnose or to monitor a disease, but to evaluate the individual’s risk for heart disease.

Courtesy: Mike Selvon

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