Coronary Heart Disease (CHD), commonly known as coronary artery disease (CAD), atherosclerotic heart disease or ischemic heart disease, is a result of formation of cholesterol plaques on the inner side of the arterial (type of blood vessels) walls that supply oxygen and nutrients to the myocardium (heart muscles). So, in order to supply adequate blood to the body, heart has to do extra work. Now if you are assigned "extra" work on daily basis, what would happen? You will feel burdened & exhausted! That's exactly what happens to our heart too; it feels burdened, tries to pull up, but at the end, crashes down to what you call - heart attack!

Some unhealthy dietary habits, such as cholesterol rich diet, smoking, & lack of exercise accelerate the deposition of fat & calcium within the inner lining of coronary arteries leading to hardening and narrowing of arteries, a common disease called atherosclerosis. Plaques deposited are like a firm shell with a soft inner core containing . As the blood hits these plaques during each heartbeat, they may crack open and expose the inner cholesterol, which may even lead to blood clotting.

The Heart pumps the oxygenated blood at high pressure into the arteries, to be supplied to the body. This pumping requires high muscular strength which depends on oxygen & nutrients supply via coronary arteries. A blockage in these arteries deprives the heart muscles of adequate supply of oxygen & nutrients leading to muscular damage. This reduced level of blood flow causes chest pain i.e. angina pectoris. In most cases, symptoms for coronary heart disease can be observed at the advanced stages during the on-set of disease but in some cases, patients show no symptoms for decades!

Several risk factors have been reported for causing atherosclerosis, some of which can be controlled by changing dietary habits or by taking medicines:

&bull

&bull High blood Cholesterol

&bull Physical inactivity

&bull Obesity and discrepancy in Body-Mass Index

&bull Diabetes mellitus

&bull High blood Pressure

&bull Hereditary factors

Regular may help your physician in planning your diet & physical exercises. This not only helps in the early diagnosis of diseases but also helps in living longer & healthier.

High levels of blood cholesterol directly or indirectly relates to other factors like obesity & high blood pressure. So, one of the major preventive measures of cardiovascular diseases is to monitor & regulate the cholesterol levels in the blood. You must be aware of the diet you are consuming; it should have lesser cholesterol & adequate nutrients.