Coronary artery disease, also called coronary heart disease, or simply, heart disease; This serious condition is a result of plaque buildup in your arteries.

What Is Coronary Artery Disease?

The arteries, which start out smooth and elastic, get plaque on their inner walls, which can make them more rigid and narrowed. This restricts blood flow to your heart muscle, which can then become starved of oxygen. The plaque could rupture, leading to a heart attack or sudden cardiac death.

How Does Coronary Artery Disease Develop?

From a young age, plaque can start to go into the blood vessel walls. As you get older, the plaque builds up. That inflames the walls and raises the risk of blood clots and heart attacks.

The plaque makes the inner walls of the blood vessels sticky. Then, other things, like inflammatory cells, lipoproteins, and calcium, travel in the bloodstream and mix with the plaque.

As more of these inflammatory cells join in, along with cholesterol, the plaque increases, both pushing the artery walls outward and growing inward. That makes the vessels narrower.

Eventually, a narrowed coronary artery may develop new blood vessels that go around the blockage to get blood to the heart muscle. However, if pushing oneself or stressed, the new arteries may not be able to bring enough oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle.

In some cases, when plaque ruptures, a blood clot may block blood supply to the heart muscle. This causes a heart attack.

If a blood vessel to the brain is blocked, usually from a blood clot, an ischemic stroke can happen.

If a blood vessel within the brain bursts, most likely as a result of uncontrolled hypertension (high blood pressure), a hemorrhagic stroke can result.

What Is Ischemia?

Cardiac ischemia is when plaque and fatty matter narrow the inside of an artery so much; it cannot supply enough oxygen-rich blood to your heart. This can cause heart attacks — with or without chest pain and other symptoms. 

  Ischemia happens most during:

• Exercise or other exertion
• Eating
• Excitement or stress
• Exposure to cold 

Coronary artery disease can get to a point where ischemia happens even when at rest. This is a medical emergency and may lead to a heart attack.

Ischemia can happen without warning in anyone with heart disease, although it is more common in people with diabetes.

Symptoms of coronary artery disease 

Angina can be described as a:

• Heaviness
• Pressure
• Aching
• Burning
• Numbness
• Fullness
• Squeezing
• Painful feeling

It can be mistaken for indigestion or heartburn.

Angina is usually felt in the chest, but may also be felt in the:

• Shoulder
• Arms
• Neck
• Back
• Jaw   

Symptoms are often subtler in women. Nausea, sweating, fatigue, or shortness of breath can join the typical pressure-like chest pain.

Other symptoms that can occur with coronary artery disease include:

• Shortness of breath
• Palpitations (irregular heartbeats, skipped beats, or a “flip-flop” feeling in your chest)
• A faster heartbeat
• Weakness or dizziness
• Nausea
• Sweating    

Homoeopathic  remedies  

STRONTIUM CARBONICUM: It is an excellent remedy for the heart block which affects the circulation causing congestive feeling of tension. Pains make patient faint or sick all over. High blood pressure with flushed face pulsating arteries, it has a great tendency to produce congestion.

CACTUS GRANDIFLORIS: Constriction, whole body feels as if caged, with wire being twisted tighter and tighter.  Heart feels as if clasped and unclasped rapidly by an iron hand. Very acute pains and stitches in heart; pulse feeble, irregular, quick, without strength. Heart weakness of arterio-sclerosis. Violent palpitation; worse lying on left side.

CRATAEGUS: Said to have a solvent power upon crustaceous and calcareous deposits in arteries. For artherosclerosis and cardiac dropsy. Extreme dyspnoea on least exertion. Pulse irregular, feeble, intermittent.  

LATRODECTUS MACTANS: Violent, praecordial pain extending to the axilla and down the arm and forearm to fingers, with numbness of the extremity. Pulse feeble and rapid.

CIMICIFUGA RACEMOSA: Irregular, slow, trembling pulse. Numbness of left arm; feels as if bound to side. Heart’s action ceases suddenly, impending suffocation.

DIGITALIS: The pulse is weak, irregular, intermittent, abnormally slow.  Great weakness and sinking of strength, faintness, coldness of skin, and irregular respiration; Stimulates the heart’s muscle. Pulse weak, and quickened by least movement. The least movement causes violent palpitation, and sensation as if it would cease beating, if he moves.