Coronary heart disease
Overview
Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a major cause of death in the UK and worldwide. CHD is sometimes called ischaemic heart disease or coronary artery disease.
Symptoms
The main symptoms of coronary heart disease are: chest pain(angina)shortness of breathpain in your neck, shoulders, jaw or armsfeeling faintfeeling sick (nausea) But not everyone has the same symptoms and some people may not have any before coronary heart disease is diagnosed.
Causes
Coronary heart disease is the term that describes what happens when your heart's blood supply is blocked or interrupted by a build-up of fatty substances in the coronary arteries. Over time, the walls of your arteries can become furred up with fatty deposits. This process is known asatherosclerosisand the fatty deposits are called atheroma. Atherosclerosis can be caused by lifestyle factors, such as smoking and regularly drinking excessive amounts of alcohol. You're also more at risk of getting atherosclerosis if you have conditions likehigh cholesterol,high blood pressure (hypertension)ordiabetes.
Prevention
You can reduce your risk of getting coronary heart disease by making some simple lifestyle changes. These include: eating a healthy, balanced dietbeing physically activegiving up smokingcontrolling blood cholesterol and sugar levels Keeping your heart healthy will also have other health benefits, such as helping reduce your risk ofstrokeanddementia.