What is Coronary Artery Disease?

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the narrowing of the heart's own blood supply pipes - the coronary arteries - by cholesterol-rich plaque built up over years. It is the commonest heart disease on earth, the leading cause of heart attacks, and a disease Indians develop earlier than almost anyone else.

What actually happens

The heart muscle feeds itself through the coronary arteries wrapping its surface. From young adulthood, cholesterol, inflammatory cells and scar tissue slowly deposit in their walls - atherosclerosis. As plaque grows, the artery narrows: less blood reaches the heart muscle, especially during exertion - producing angina (chest pain on effort). The dangerous moment comes when a plaque suddenly ruptures: a clot forms on it and blocks the artery outright - a heart attack, killing the heart muscle downstream within hours unless the artery is reopened.

Why Indians must take it seriously earlier

South Asians develop CAD roughly a decade earlier than Western populations - heart attacks in the 40s and even 30s are no longer rare in India. The reasons stack up: genetic tendency to higher triglycerides and lower protective HDL, belly-fat-centered weight gain, exploding diabetes rates, tobacco, and urban lifestyle shifts. "I am too young for heart disease" is a sentence Indian cardiology has retired.

Stable versus acute

• Stable CAD: predictable effort angina - pain with climbing stairs, easing with rest. Managed with medicines, lifestyle, and procedures when needed
• Acute coronary syndrome: unstable angina and heart attack - pain at rest, new or crescendo pain, sweating, breathlessness. An emergency: 102/108, and do not drive yourself

The hopeful headline

CAD is largely preventable and very manageable: cholesterol control, blood pressure, sugar, no tobacco, movement and - when needed - stents and bypass surgery return people to full lives. The articles in this section cover causes, symptoms, types, stages, food, medicines, prevention, treatment, exercise and complications - with emergencies always flagged first.

One-line summary

Coronary artery disease is cholesterol plaque narrowing the heart's arteries - causing angina on effort and heart attack when plaque ruptures - and it strikes Indians a decade early, making prevention a 30s conversation, not a 60s one.