Heart Attack and Its Causes: Mechanisms, Theories, and Remedies

Running head: HEART ATTACK AND IT’S CAUSES
HEART ATTACK AND ITS CAUSES
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1HEART ATTACK AND IT’S CAUSES
Heart attacks, their causes and remedies
Heart disease
Heart attacks are mainly cause due to the blockage of the arteries of the heart due to the
formation of blood clots.
The essay aims to focus on the mechanisms of heart blockages, the contemporary theories
and the recent theories behind the arterial blockage. The essay also provides an insight to the
genetic basis of the cardiovascular diseases and the possible remedies.
The building of the fat deposits in the arteries acts a potent silent killer that can cause
coronary heart disease. The atheroma or the fatty materials starts accumulating in the arterial
lining form the young age. These materials are foreign to the body and hence cause
inflammation1. The artery tries to clean up the inflammation by depositing a layer of fibrous
material above the fatty core. Over the time it forms plaques. This process gradually continues
with the formation of more similar plaques, causing more inflammation and bigger plaques.
Softer plaques that are rich in cholesterols are unstable and may rupture causing the blood to
clot. The clot formation further narrows the artery restricting the flow of blood1. If the flow is
completely blocked then it the affected muscle loses its oxygen, leading to a heart attack. If the
blockage occurs in an artery that feeds the heart, causes a heart attack, and when the clot forms
on an arthroscelerotic plaque in the blood vessels of the brain then arthrothrombotic stroke
1 Wang, Qing. “Advances in the Genetic Basis of Coronary Artery Disease.” Current atherosclerosis reports 7.3
(2005): 235–241. Print