Your heart is a pump made of strong muscle. It beats 60-90 times every minute – that’s about 100,000 beats every day, or 3,000,000 beats a month.

Blood is pumped from the right side of the heart to the lungs where it takes up oxygen. It then returns to the left side, is pumped out through the arteries to carry oxygen to the rest of the body and then returns through the veins to the right side of the heart to start the cycle again.

What is coronary heart disease?

Coronary heart disease usually begins with atherosclerosis – the narrowing of the coronary arteries that carry blood to the heart. A heart attack happens when there is a sudden blockage in one of those arteries, cutting off the blood supply to the heart muscle.

The blockage may be caused by atherosclerosis, or by a blood clot forming (a thrombosis), or by a combination of atherosclerosis and thrombosis. Sometimes atherosclerosis can cause angina, severe pain in the chest which can spread to the neck and arms.

The pain is like a ‘cramp’ in the heart muscles, caused when they do not get enough oxygen. This usually happens during a period of exertion or stress and is normally relieved by resting.

What causes coronary heart disease?

The main factors which can increase the risk of coronary heart disease are:-

* cigarette smoking
* high blood pressure (hypertension)
* an unhealthy diet
* lack of exercise
* obesity and diabetes
* family history of coronary heart disease
* stress

How big is the problem?

Coronary heart disease rates in the UK are among the highest in the world.

One in three men and one in four women die from the disease. In 1993, over 90,000 men and 76,000 women died of coronary heart disease. That is 19 people every hour. Every year 70 million working days are lost because of illnesses associated with coronary heart disease and the NHS spends £900 million each year on treating coronary heart disease. Death rates from coronary heart disease in the UK are amongst the worst in the world.

Until the late seventies, coronary heart disease rates in the UK had been steadily rising. Now the increase in deaths has levelled off and there is evidence of a slight decrease in deaths particularly among young men. In other countries, broadly comparable in lifestyle with the UK, deaths from coronary heart disease have shown more dramatic improvement.

In the USA and Australia, for example, death rates have fallen by over 32% in the last 15 years compared with 22% in the UK.It is a common myth that people of higher social status are more likely to develop coronary heart disease.

In fact, people on a low income are more susceptible. Deaths from coronary heart disease are at least twice as high in manual as non-manual workers. The problem of heart disease is so widespread in the UK that we have to start thinking of coronary heart disease as a public health issue: a problem that could affect us all.

Seeing health as a collective effort is a crucial part of effective coronary heart disease prevention.