Coronary heart disease is a condition that arises from increased amounts of atheromatous plaques that gather within the arteries. Many people who develop this condition may not begin showing symptoms until years after they have initially developed the disease. The most dangerous symptom of this disease is a heart attack, and this will generally occur after the atheromatous plaques break apart and begin restricting the flow of blood into the heart. Coronary artery disease is a common cause for sudden death.
This condition is known for having varying extremes. Certain people can be defined as being asymptomatic, and will have an early form of the disease where the flow of blood is not blocked. Doctors who perform coronary angiograms at this point may not be able to detect the disease because the lumen within the artery has not been reduced in size. However, the atheromatous plaques will grow into the walls of the arteries, and once they cause the lumen to expand, the blood flow will be restricted. Many researchers believe that this process took many years to occur, but there have been some cases where the plaque would rupture, and the progression of this disease would...