Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States for men and women. The American Heart Association says that more than 15 million people have some form of it.  Younger men (in their 40s) have a higher risk of it than women of the same age. But as people get older, the risk for women increases until it almost equals men's.

The heart is essentially a muscle, about the size of a fist, whose main job is to pump blood to all parts of the body, bringing needed nutrients and oxygen and removing waste products.  The coronary arteries are the blood vessels that bring blood to the heart.  When these arteries become hard and narrowed, the blood supply to the heart becomes reduced.  Arteries usually harden and narrow because they get clogged with a fatty substance called plaque.  This build up of plaque is known as coronary artery disease (CAD), coronary heart disease (CHD), or atherosclerosis.

CAD is a leading cause of cardiac ischemia. Ischemia means that the flow of blood (and therefore oxygen) to a part of the body has been reduced; cardiac ischemia means not enough blood and oxygen are flowing into the heart.  Cardiac ischemia usually causes chest pain, a condition known as angina or angina pectoris. 

A heart attack means the supply of blood and oxygen to the heart has been so drastically reduced that cells in the heart die.  The more severe the heart attack, the more of the heart that dies.  The technical name for the heart muscle is the myocardium, and the most widely used technical term for a heart attack is myocardial infarction.  But you may also hear the terms coronary thrombosis or coronary occlusion.  

Another term to know is cardiovascular disease (CVD).  It's refers to conditions or diseases of the heart and blood vessels in general, including CAD, angina, congestive heart failure (a condition in which a weakened heart doesn't pump efficiently, causing excess body fluids to back up into the lungs and elsewhere), high blood pressure, and stroke.  

Stroke is related to heart disease.  Just as a heart attack results from an interruption of blood flow to the heart, a stroke is the interruption of the flow of blood to any part of the brain.  Just as a heart attack damages or destroys heart tissue, a stroke damages brain tissue.  And just as a heart attack can be caused by atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries, a stroke can be caused by atherosclerosis of the carotid arteries – the arteries that supply blood to the brain. Therefore, the steps taken to prevent heart attack can also help prevent stroke. 

Several earlier episodes of Second Opinion also explored various aspects of heart disease. You'll find lots of valuable information at

• Second Opinion, Heart Failure (Cardiomyopathy), Episode 102
• Second Opinion, Heart Rhythm Disorder (Arrhythmia), Episode 110
• Second Opinion, Heart Attack, Episode 113
• Second Opinion, Women's Cardiac Health, Episode 209
• Second Opinion, Depression and Heart Disease, Episode 302
  And you can find information about stroke at
• Second Opinion, Stroke, Episode 205