Causes and risk factors for coronary heart disease & bull; hello healthy

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a serious and widely experienced type of heart disease. In fact, CHD can also be a cause of heart attack. However, what exactly causes coronary heart disease? What are the risk factors? Check out the full explanation below.

Causes of coronary heart disease

According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, coronary heart disease is divided into three types: obstructive coronary artery disease, nonobstructive coronary artery disease, and coronary microvascular disease.

Coronary artery disease usually affects the larger arteries on the surface of the heart. People who experience this condition usually experience good ones obstructive as well as nonobstructive . Meanwhile, coronary microvascular disease affects the smaller arteries of the heart muscle.

The cause of coronary heart disease depends on the type. In fact, this disease may have more than one cause that you should pay attention to. Are as follows.

• Plaque buildup

One of the causes of coronary heart disease is the buildup of plaque in the arteries. This plaque buildup is called atherosclerosis. If this buildup occurs for years, the arteries will narrow and harden.

This can cause the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the heart to become obstructed. This condition is the cause of coronary heart disease. If the arteries in the heart are more than 50% blocked, it means you have o bstructive coronary artery disease .

Meanwhile, you may experience nonobstructive coronary artery disease if the arteries have narrowed but are still not at a severe stage. Smaller plaques can also form in the smaller blood vessels in the heart. This causes coronary microvascular disease.

• Health problems that affect blood vessels

Apart from plaque buildup, there are also other causes of coronary heart disease, such as health problems that can affect blood vessels. For example, blood vessels may not respond well to signals indicating that the heart needs more oxygenated blood.

If the blood vessels work normally, they dilate to make way for blood flow to the heart when a person is physically active or under stress (stress). However, when you have coronary heart disease, the blood vessels may not dilate, or even narrow. As a result, blood flow to the heart becomes obstructed.

The cause of this condition is still not known with certainty. However, there are several possible causes of problems with blood vessels, such as:

• Damage to the walls of the arteries or other blood vessels from chronic inflammation, high blood pressure, or diabetes.
• Molecular changes that usually occur with age. These molecular changes affect the control of genes and proteins in the cells.

So, if you have started to feel symptoms of coronary heart disease, there's nothing wrong with seeing a doctor to get effective treatment for heart disease.

Coronary heart disease risk factors

In addition to the causes of coronary heart disease, you may also need to pay attention to what risk factors for coronary heart disease you may have. By knowing these risk factors for heart disease, you may be able to determine preventive measures against heart disease that are in accordance with your current conditions.

1. The advancing age

Although it is not a risk factor that can be changed, you still need to understand that age is a risk factor for coronary heart disease. This means that the older you get, the higher your risk for one of these types of heart disease.

However, it does not mean that all people who get older have coronary heart disease. Therefore, so that your age does not become the cause of coronary heart disease, start adopting a healthy lifestyle from an early age. That way, your risk of coronary heart disease can still be well controlled.

2. Male gender

Another risk factor that cannot be changed is gender. In this case, men are more susceptible to coronary heart disease than women. Even so, the risk of women experiencing coronary heart disease will increase after menopause.

3. Family history of heart problems

You also need to pay attention to the medical history that your family has. This is because family medical history is also a risk factor for coronary heart disease. Especially if your family members experience coronary heart disease at a young age.

Your risk is even higher if your father or brother developed heart disease before turning 55. Meanwhile, your risk will also increase if your mother or sister experienced the condition before entering the age of 65.

Therefore, so that this condition does not become the cause of coronary heart disease, there is nothing wrong with inviting all members of your family to maintain heart health by adopting a healthy lifestyle.

4. Smoking habits

Smoking habits are not good for heart health. Yes, smoking can increase the risk of heart disease, including coronary heart disease. In fact, this habit can increase the risk of developing coronary heart disease drastically.

Besides being bad for your heart health, smoking is also not good for those around you. The reason is, this habit can make the people around you inhale cigarette smoke. Inhaled cigarette smoke can also increase the risk of coronary heart disease, even if the person does not smoke.

5. High blood pressure

There are other health conditions that can increase your risk of heart disease. Yes, high blood pressure or hypertension can increase the risk of heart disease. Why? Because uncontrolled blood pressure can cause blood vessels to harden and thicken.

This makes the "path" of blood to the heart narrow, so that blood cannot flow smoothly. This is the cause of coronary heart disease.

6. High cholesterol levels

Apparently, high cholesterol levels in the blood can increase your risk of developing coronary heart disease. The reason is, high cholesterol levels can increase the risk of plaque formation in blood vessels. Plaque that accumulates is the cause of coronary heart disease.

High cholesterol levels can occur because the levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) in the blood increase. Meanwhile, levels of good cholesterol (HDL) actually decreased. Therefore, try to lower cholesterol levels in the blood so that you can reduce your risk of developing coronary heart disease.

7. Diabetes

Diabetes is often associated with coronary heart disease. This may be because the risk factors for type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease are not much different. These include high blood pressure and obesity. Therefore, so that this condition does not cause you to experience coronary heart disease, try to reduce the risk factors you may have.

8. Excess weight

Having excess weight is also not good for health. Moreover, this condition can also worsen other risk factors, such as high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, and diabetes. So, you should try to control the weight you have.

You can do this by regularly doing exercise that is good for heart health, and also adopting a healthy diet for the heart.

9. Less active

Lazing around and being inactive can increase the risk of obesity. In fact, as mentioned earlier, obesity can also increase other risks of coronary heart disease. Therefore, it is not surprising that people who rarely exercise or are not active can experience an increased risk of coronary heart disease.

10. Uncontrollable stress

Apart from your physical condition, your mental condition can also be a risk factor for heart disease. Moreover, if you are often under pressure or stress. The reason is, stress that cannot be resolved can damage arteries. This suggests that stress can be a cause of coronary heart disease, including increasing the risk of other heart diseases.

So, you should avoid things that can trigger stress to appear. The triggers for stress are clearly different from one another. Only you understand what can cause stress to hit. Therefore, only you can effectively manage the stress that may arise.

11. Unhealthy eating patterns

Your dietary habits can also be a risk factor. Especially if you adhere to an unhealthy diet. Yes, eating too much food that is rich in saturated fat, trans fat, salt, and sugar has the potential to increase your risk of developing coronary heart disease.

If you do not immediately treat this condition, it is feared that this diet will cause coronary heart disease. So, start fixing your eating habits and adopting a healthy diet. For example, eat foods rich in fiber such as vegetables and fruit, whole grains, whole grains and nuts.

Not only that, try to adopt a heart-healthy cooking method. This is of course also important to improve heart health. After all, this cooking habit is not only good for you, but also for the whole family at home.

For that, try to see a doctor and find out what risks you have for this one heart disease. That way, you may be able to take better care of your health in order to avoid unwanted things.

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