Heart disease ranks third among the most common fatal diseases in Hong Kong. According to the Hong Kong Department of Health, 6,561 people registered death from coronary heart disease (CHD) in 2020, of which 60% will be due to CHD.
“Heart Diseases” refers to a broad spectrum of diseases related to the heart. Among different types of heart diseases, CHD is the leading cause of death from heart disease.
The coronary arteries are a group of blood vessels that supply oxygen and nutrients to the heart muscle to keep the heart functioning. This heart disease is caused by the accumulation of cholesterol layers in the lining of the coronary arteries, narrowing the lumen of the arteries and reducing the blood supply to the heart muscle, resulting in angina pectoris during exercise and, in severe cases, even myocardial necrosis, causing sudden death due to cardiac arrest.
Recent years have seen early onset of coronary heart disease at younger ages. It is not unusual for a person to develop this disease in his 40’s. Patients can have no symptoms before the first episode of heart attack and thus the possibility of developing the disease is easily overlooked.
Coronary artery disease can be caused by the following factors:
- Hyperlipidaemia
- Smoking
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- High blood pressure
- Stressful life, too much pressure
- Lack of exercise
- Family history
Symptoms of cardiac disease include chest pain, shortness of breath, cold sweats, nausea, dizziness and palpitations. The most common symptom of angina pectoris is crushing pain under the sternum due to ischemia of the heart muscle caused by obstruction or stenosis of the coronary arteries. The most common symptom is crushing pain under the sternum.
In some patients, the pain may be reflected to the left arm and elbow, or may be mistaken for stomach pain. In patients with heart attacks, angina may persist even after rest.
Coronary heart disease is diagnosed by the following:
- Electrocardiogram (ECG)
- Blood tests including sugar and lipid
- Exercise ECG
- Echocardiogram
- Computerized tomography coronary angiogram
- Magnetic resonance imaging of the heart
- Coronary angiogram
Once the doctor has fully diagnosed the patient’s disease, an appropriate treatment plan will be chosen according to its extent. The most basic of these is to improve personal habits, such as quitting smoking, improving poor diet, and increasing the amount of daily exercise.
Current treatment options for coronary heart disease include:
- Medications – Patients are usually first prescribed medications to relieve and alleviate symptoms, such as nitroglycerin tablets (also known as lingual tablets) and aspirin.
- Catheter Intervention – commonly known as a ” balloon angioplasty “. The method is to introduce a catheter with a small balloon at the front end, through the thigh or hand artery, to the location of the narrowed heart vessel, dilate it, and then place a metal stent to prevent re-stenosis. The advantage of this method over the coronary artery bypass surgery described below is that it does not require open-heart surgery and is performed under local anesthesia.
- Coronary artery bypass surgery – commonly known as “bridging surgery”. It is a major open-heart surgery. The doctor creates a bypass using a vessel from another part of your body to allow blood to flow around the blocked area through the main artery to the damaged heart muscles.
Complications of Coronary Heart Disease :
- Heart attack: It occurs when blood flow is completely or almost completely blocked. Heart muscle will be severely or permanently damaged if the blood vessel is not opened up urgently.
- Heart failure
- Arrhythmia (abnormal heart rhythm)
Reference :
– HKSAR Department of Health
– HK Hospital Authority Smart Patient
Cataract
»