Coronary Heart Disease

What is Coronary Heart Disease?

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a leading cause of death in the UK and throughout the world. The disease is sometimes referred to as coronary artery disease or ischaemic heart disease. Coronary heart disease occurs when the coronary arteries grow too thin or cholesterol blockages form in the walls. The blood channels that carry blood and oxygen to the heart are known as the coronary arteries.

What are the causes of Coronary heart disease?

CHD usually describes what takes place when a build-up of fatty substances in the coronary arteries prevents or interrupts your heart’s blood flow.
Your arteries’ walls may eventually develop fatty deposits on them. The fatty deposits are identified as atheroma, and the process is referred to as atherosclerosis.

Lifestyle choices like smoking and binge-drinking alcohol on a regular basis can lead to atherosclerosis. Additionally, having diseases like , hypertension, or high cholesterol increases your risk of developing atherosclerosis.

What are the symptoms?

The following are the major symptoms of CHD:

  • Chest pain (angina)
  • Shortness of breath
  • Feeling sick (nausea)
  • Pain throughout the body
  • Feeling faint

But not everyone exhibits the same symptoms, and some people may be symptom-free prior to the discovery of CHD.

How can we help you?

If you have CHD, your GP might recommend medication to help with symptom relief and prevent the emergence of new issues.

Your doctor might recommend medication to stop you from developing heart-related issues if you don’t have CHD but have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or a family history of heart disease.

We as pharmacists play a vital role in both primary and secondary cardiovascular disease prevention. The primary techniques for doing this are patient education and counselling, medication review, drug safety management, monitoring, and reconciliation, as well as the identification and management of specific cardiovascular risk factors (such as blood pressure, blood sugar, and serum lipids).

If you’re on medication such as statins or those for high blood pressure, and you want to talk to us about them, we’re here to listen to you, privately and confidentially, always.

*Conditions apply – NHS Service

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