What is Heart Disease?

• Heart disease is a disease of the coronary arteries and is called coronary artery disease (CAD). It is atherosclerosis or narrowing of the coronary arteries.
• It is a narrowing of the arteries that lie on the outside surface of the heart that supply the heart muscle itself with nutrients.
• Coronary arteries are usually the first arteries to show signs and symptoms of significant narrowing because of their small size.
• When a coronary artery becomes narrowed significantly, it can no longer provide adequate blood and oxygen to the particular area of the heart muscle that it feeds.
• When a coronary artery becomes completely blocked for a period of time, a heart attack or myocardial infarction (MI) results.