Causes of Heart Disease
Physical Causes of Heart Disease
Atherosclerosis is a major cause of heart disease. Atherosclerosis is a process that takes place bit by bit over the course of time. It involves the build up of cholesterol plaque in the arteries and causes the arterial wall to harden. The cholesterol plaques deposited during the atherosclerosis process also narrow the inner passageway, or lumen, of the artery. Once cholesterol deposits narrow these arteries, the arteries can no longer transport a sufficient blood supply to the parts of the body that depend on it to survive. Atherosclerosis can affect arteries that supply any part of the body, causing pain, lesions and a delayed healing process when injured.
When atherosclerosis affects arteries that supply the brain with blood, the patient may eventually suffer a sudden death of brain tissue or instead, a gradual death of brain tissue resulting in mental deterioration and later dementia.
Individuals with atherosclerosis do not always have symptoms. Some people can go for twenty or thirty years without any related health problems—with the atherosclerosis dating back as far as a person’s teenage years. Once the inner cavity of the artery is severely narrowed and the blood can no longer pass through, the patient begins to experience symptoms. The process of atherosclerosis is sometimes sped up by high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol levels, smoking and diabetes mellitus, which can also cause other complications.
So how does atherosclerosis cause heart attacks? When a patient has coronary atherosclerosis, cholesterol deposits build up in his or her coronary arteries. Diseases that are caused by the calcium deposits hardening and narrowing of the coronary arteries are called coronary heart diseases. Coronary heart diseases often result in heart weakening and eventual heart attacks.
Sometimes the normal dangers of atherosclerosis are eclipsed by a more sudden and urgent danger. Inside the coronary artery, cholesterol plaque ruptures, forming a blood clot that blocks off the blood flow through the artery. The blood must carry oxygen from the lungs to the heart in order for the heart muscle tissue to survive, and for the heart to continue beating. If the blood cannot make it there, the patient suffers a heart attack.
Environmental Causes of Heart Disease
In addition to the physical cause of heart attacks, there are environmental factors that contribute to the incidence of heart attack. Stress is the most common environmental contributor involved in heart attacks among those with coronary heart diseases. It may even play a role in the development of the disease, indicating that emotional stress does indeed translate into biological stress. Here is an example: When people get stressed out, their blood pressure rises. Exposure to stressful situations over an extended period of time can lead to chronic high blood pressure, which in turn can lead to coronary heart disease over the course of as few as six years.
Stress can also prompt people to overeat as a sort of misguided coping mechanism. Those people who overeat to deal with stress may become overweight, and the extra weigh can put them at increased risk of heart attack, especially if the person eats a lot of fatty foods that clog the arteries with cholesterol. Maintaining a healthy diet, exercising regularly and dealing with stress in a healthy fashion are common heart disease prevention methods.