Atherosclerosis Of The Coronary Arteries - Symptoms And Treatment

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 21:43

Atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries

Content:

• What is coronary artery atherosclerosis?
• Symptoms of coronary artery atherosclerosis
• Causes of coronary artery atherosclerosis
• Diagnostics of the atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries
• Coronary artery atherosclerosis treatment

What is coronary artery atherosclerosis?

In the usual form of atherosclerosis, cholesterol plaques form on the walls of blood vessels. It is they who systematically reduce the lumen, which negatively affects the work of organs. Atherosclerosis that develops in the coronary arteries is a similar process, with the only difference that it occurs in very important vessels and threatens the most dangerous consequences. In connection with this disease, an insufficient amount of blood is supplied to the heart muscle.

Symptoms of coronary artery atherosclerosis

The primary manifestations of the disease may well be overlooked, moreover, they can be disguised as other diseases.

Symptoms of coronary atherosclerosis include:

• Painful sensations in the chest, radiating to the back or left shoulder;
• Shortness of breath that appears before pain. Sometimes, due to oxygen deficiency, a person cannot be in a horizontal position, because the pain is aggravated to such an extent that breathing becomes impossible;
• Dizziness attacks;
• Diarrhea;
• Vomiting.

At least 50% of patients have some of these manifestations before a heart attack. However, they are overlooked. It should be remembered that atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries may not manifest itself for a very long time, therefore, after 35 years of age, annual preventive examinations are necessary.

More serious symptoms include:

• Angina pectoris, which is accompanied by rare painful sensations in the retrosternal region. Most often, this occurs during physical exertion and emotional stress. Angina pectoris is characterized by a rapid increase. With this diagnosis, it is important to have nitroglycerin with you, the use of which helps to eliminate painful sensations in a few minutes;
• Cardiosclerosis - permanent ischemia becomes a catalyst for the formation of connective tissue, which systematically replaces muscle tissue. The contractile capabilities of the myocardium suffer from this;
• Arrhythmia is the result of damage to the heart and changes in the degree of conduction of the impulse through the organ.

Causes of coronary artery atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries can form due to two categories of causes: internal and external. If we count all the possible factors, they can be counted a little less than 200.

The most common reasons should be considered:

• Eating large amounts of animal fats. This is bad because they contain low density lipoproteins. The presented components are able to adhere to the walls of blood vessels, in which after the formation of single or multiple plaques;
• Hypodynamia;
• Genetic predisposition - in particular, poor development of blood vessels, a tendency to arrhythmias and other abnormalities;
• Gender - women are less likely to develop atherosclerosis. This is because their body creates estrogens - natural hormonal components that protect blood vessels. After the end of menopause, the situation for women changes to the exact opposite;
• Age - the highest risk of atherosclerosis in men over the age of 45;
• Overweight - obese people face atherosclerosis 2-3 times more often;
• Addiction is a serious factor that causes the formation of atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries. Nicotine addiction has a significant negative effect on the state of blood vessels;
• Diabetes mellitus type 1 and 2 is a disease in which all processes in the body are destabilized. Lipid metabolism will not be an exception in this case.

There are also family-hereditary reasons in which the ratio of various categories of lipids is disturbed in the plasma. Genetic factors include negative eating habits. We are talking about the excessive consumption of animal fats and other harmful products.

Diagnostics of the atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries

Since very often atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries is similar to the manifestations of coronary heart disease, the diagnostic process does not cause difficulties.

Several techniques are used:

• Electrocardiography, including daily;
• Echocardiography;
• Bicycle ergometry;
• Radionuclide research;
• MRI (magnetic resonance imaging);
• CT multispiral type.

No less important should be considered a detailed story of the patient about his condition. It is necessary to list all manifestations, including those that may not seem very important. This will make it possible to identify diseases that accompany atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries, and establish an accurate diagnosis. The direction of the treatment course will depend on him.

Coronary artery atherosclerosis treatment

The recovery process largely depends on the stage of atherosclerosis. If the ailment was detected on time, then it will be enough to use drugs that reduce the cholesterol content in the body. These include statins (Rosuvastatin, Lovastatin, Atorvastatin) and fibrates (Canon Fenofibrate). In addition to these, omega-3s are prescribed.

Ezetrol, evolocumab and alirocumab are among the modern cholesterol-lowering drugs. However, their price is quite high.

Herbal preparations are often included in the treatment: Inflaminat, Revight Garlic Pearls, Ravisol, Pumpkin seed oil, Nattokinase. Read more about their effectiveness here.

To prevent thrombosis, thrombolytic therapy may be prescribed.

It is extremely important to make a lifestyle change. This measure implies avoiding stress, moderate physical activity and adherence to the principles of diet. The Mediterranean diet is especially recommended, which reduces the risk of complications by 50%.

Read more: Drugs for the treatment of atherosclerosis

Surgery

Surgical methods:

• Stent implantation. If during the examination it turns out that drugs and other measures are not enough, a decision may be made to expand the section of the vessel that was narrowed due to pathology. This is otherwise called stenting;
• Bypass surgery. It may be necessary to bypass, that is, to create a new path for blood flow by connecting sections of the vessel. This helps restore the normal blood supply to the heart. Coronary artery bypass grafting is performed when a progressive narrowing of the main artery leading to the heart muscle is detected.

Atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries is a serious disease, it is very dangerous to ignore the signs. In order to avoid formidable complications, it is necessary to carry out diagnostics on time and not to neglect preventive and therapeutic measures.

The author of the article: Molchanov Sergey Nikolaevich | Cardiologist

Education: Diploma in "Cardiology" received at the PMGMU. I. M. Sechenov (2015). Here I completed my postgraduate studies and received a diploma "Cardiologist".