What is Coronary Artery Disease?
Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) or Coronary Heart Disease, is a condition in which plaque builds up inside the arteries that supply your heart muscle (coronary arteries) with oxygen-rich blood. Plaque is made up of fat, cholesterol, calcium, and other substances found in blood. The build up narrows the arteries and reduces blood flow to your heart muscle. It also makes it more likely for blood clots to form in your arteries, which can partly or completely block blood flow. This can cause angine or a heart attack.
- Coronary artery disease
- Congenital heart defects
- Arrhythmia
- Dilated cardiomyopathy
- Myocardial infarction
- Heart failure
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
- Mitral valve regurgitation
- Mitral valve prolapse
- Aortic stenosis
How can Coronary Artery Disease be prevented or delayed?
Taking actions to identify and control your risk factors can prevent and slow down coronary artery disease. Know your family history of health problems especially those related to coronary artery disease. Early detection, making lifestyle changes, and taking prescribed medication are important steps.
Who is at risk for Coronary Artery Disease?
In Malaysia, Coronary Artery Disease has been the main cause of death (as stated by the Department of Statistics Malaysia for 2005 – 2008) for both men and women.
Many risk factors raise the probability of developing coronary artery disease. They are:
- Unhealthy blood cholesterol levels
- High blood pressure
- Overweight or obesity
- Lack of physical activity
- Family history of early heart disease
- Smoking
- Diabetes
- Metabolic syndrome
- Age (the risk of CAD increases after age 45 for men and after age 55 for women)
- High hsCRP and/or homocystein
Treatments for Heart Disease
CT Angiography
Using Toshiba 640-slice 4D CT Scanner Suite as a non-invasive procedure to determine whether either fatty or calcium deposits have built up in your coronary arteries.
Non-invasive procedure – injection of contrast dye via a needle in a peripheral vein
Safer (no risk of local damage or stroke)
Outpatient visit (1-2 hours)
Lower Cost
Unique ability to visualize soft plaque and calcium deposit
Lower dose of radiation (reduced by 50%)
Normal activities can be resumed right after screening
Popular
CT Calcium Score
A non-invasive medical test to obtain information on the presence, location and extent of calcified plaque in the coronary arteries. It is measured by taking a special computed tomography (CT) scan of the heart.
The scan shows the amount of hardening of the artery wall (the disease that causes this hardening is called atherosclerosis)
Better understanding on the relative risk of having a heart attack or stroke in the mere future
To decide on approaches to reduce the risk
Your doctor may decide that a second calcium score scan after a few years might be helpful to compare the results with the previous scan
Recommend for women aged between 35 and 70 years and men aged between 40 and 60 years
Popular
Stress Test
A stress test, also called an exercise stress test, shows how your heart works during physical activity. Because exercise makes your heart pump harder and faster, an exercise stress test can reveal problems with blood flow within your heart.
Guide treatment decisions
Determine how well heart treatment is working
Diagnose the severity of an existing heart condition
Check your heart before surgery
How well your heart pumps blood
Whether your heart is receiving an adequate blood supply
Electrocardiogram (ECG)
An electrocardiogram (ECG) is a simple test that can be used to check your heart's rhythm and electrical activity. Sensors attached to the skin are used to detect the electrical signals produced by your heart each time it beats.
An ECG may be requested by a heart specialist (cardiologist)
Detect where the heart beats too slowly, too quickly, or irregularly
Detect where the heart's blood supply is blocked or interrupted by a build-up of fatty substances
Detect where the supply of blood to the heart is suddenly blocked
Detect where the heart walls become thickened or enlarged
Echocardiography
An echocardiogram uses sound waves to produce images of your heart. This common test allows your doctor to see your heart beating and pumping blood. Your doctor can use the images from an echocardiogram to identify heart disease.
Check for problems with the valves or chambers of your heart
Check if heart problems are the cause of symptoms such as shortness of breath or chest pain
Detect congenital heart defects before birth (fetal echocardiogram)
Stress Echocardiography
Stress echocardiography is a test that uses ultrasound imaging to show how well your heart muscle is working to pump blood to your body. It is most often used to detect a decrease in blood flow to the heart from narrowing in the coronary arteries.
Ultrasound images of your heart are taken before and immediately after you walk on a treadmill or ride a stationary bike
If you're unable to exercise, you may get an injection of a medication to make your heart pump as hard as if you were exercising
Enhanced External Counterpulsation (EECP)
Chest pain therapy approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It treats long-term chest pain or pressure (chronic stable angina) that doesn’t respond to other treatments.
EECP therapy uses pressure to improve your blood flow
Non invasive, outpatient treatment
Reduce your need for medication and increase your ability to be active without experiencing symptoms