Coronari arteries coronary artery disease (CAD) affects almost 13 million Americans, making it the most common type of cardiovascular disease. The CAD and its complications such as arrhythmia, angina and heart attack are the main causes of death in the United States. The most common cause of CAD is a condition called atherosclerosis, which occurs when a waxy substance forms inside the arteries that supply the heart. This substance, called plaque, is made of cholesterol, fatty compounds, calcium and a clotting material called fibrin. Have identified two types of plaque: hard plaque and soft plaque.
Most people have heard of the hard plaque and knows it can cause a heart attack. If hard plaque builds up in arteries supplying the heart, blood flow slows or stops. This decreases the amount of oxygen reaching the heart, which can cause a heart attack.
But it has been determined that although some heart attacks are caused by hard plaque, most of them are caused by the soft plaque or vulnerable plaque. The vulnerable plaque is an inflamed section of an artery that can rupture. This may lead to the formation of a blood clot that can cause a heart attack.
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Tags: Artery Disease, Coronary Artery Disease, Heart Attack, type of cardiovascular
