The ABC of Weight Loss

Coronary Heart Disease

Your heart is a wondrous thing. Weighing in at about 250 to 350 grams, this bundle of muscle helps to pump blood through your body about 3.5 billion
times in your life. 

The heart rests inside the ribcage, slightly to the left of the main breastbone. For most people, the heart beats about 60 to 100 times per minute, with the
lower rates for those that are in better shape than others. For even healthier individuals, it can get as low as 30 beats per minute. As the heart pumps, it is pushing blood out to the extremities of the body and then pulling the blood back once it has done its job of taking nutrients and oxygen to various locations in the body. There are two sides to the heart, a right side and a left side. Both sides have two chambers – the ventricle and the atrium.

Here is the basic way that blood flows in and out of the heart with each beat:
The right side of the heart is the part that collects blood after it has done its job of taking oxygen throughout the body, and removing waste products. This blood is then moved to the lungs where it releases the carbon dioxide and takes in oxygen, before the left side of the heart pushes the blood throughout the body again. Helping with this process are the arteries. They help to channel the blood from the heart to the other parts of the body while the veins are what transport the blood back to the heart and lungs to re-oxygenate the blood stream. Over and over this process occurs during the day to make sure all the cells in the body receive enough oxygen to continue their essential functions.

WHAT IS IT?
As with any part of the body, there are times when the heart doesn’t work properly. This can be due to physical damage to the heart or internal problems that stem from other causes. Coronary heart disease is one of the most common heart problems in the world today.

Defined, coronary heart disease (CHD) is a condition in which the circulation of the blood is interrupted by plaques that have built up in the arteries. This narrowing of the vessels leads to problems with getting enough oxygen to the heart in order for it to beat properly and provide oxygen throughout the body. Also known as coronary artery disease, the onset of this condition can be very gradual, with the build up of these partial blockages taking years to accumulate before the patient even recognizes there is a problem. When this condition becomes worse, it can increase the risk of other heart related conditions, such as heart attacks. As the heart muscle weakens, it can begin to die in spaces, making it difficult for the patient to recover from the damage if not caught in time. This is why it is important for patients to have regular checkups.
There are a number of conditions that fall within the general label of Coronary Heart Disease:
• Angina
• Stroke
• Heart Attack
• Heart Failure
• Vascular Disease

Statistics
According to the Australian Heart Foundation: Coronary Heart Disease kills one Australian every TEN minutes.
• This heart disease condition is not only increasing in severity around the world, but also in quantity. More than 36% of all Australian deaths in 2004 were attributed to Coronary Heart Disease, making it the top killer in the population.
• According to recent research, Coronary Heart Disease remains the number one killer of all Australians.
• Affecting more than 3.5 millions Australians, the condition is not only affecting men, but also women in greater numbers each year.
• In 2004, 11 500 women were killed by Coronary Heart Disease or more than four times the number that were killed by breast cancer.
• It is thought that 1.4 million people in Australia were not able to live an active life in 2004 because of Coronary Heart Disease as the condition caused disability.
• In the last decade alone, conditions like Coronary Heart Disease have increased in numbers by about 18%.
• Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginal Australians are 2.6 times as likely to die from Coronary Heart Disease and related conditions.

These statistics are not only gruesome, but also largely preventable with lifestyle changes, according to scientists and current research findings.

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