Coronary artery disease Treatment in Malaysia

What is Coronary artery disease?

The narrowing or blockage of your coronary arteries, which provide your heart with oxygen-rich blood, is known as coronary artery disease (CAD). This occurs because the amount of blood that can reach your heart muscle is reduced over time due to plaque (including cholesterol) accumulation in these arteries.

What is the Importance of Timely Treatment?

To avoid serious consequences like heart attacks, heart failure, or sudden cardiac arrest, Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) must be treated on time.

Changes in lifestyle, medicine, surgery, or angioplasty are examples of early interventions that can increase blood flow, lessen cardiac strain, and stop the disease's progression.

Treating CAD also enhances quality of life, raises the likelihood of a better long-term prognosis, and reduces the danger of irreversible damage to the heart muscle. Higher mortality rates, a higher chance of serious cardiovascular events, and increasing symptoms can result from postponing therapy.

What are the Common Symptoms of Coronary artery disease?

You might not have any symptoms in the early stages. However, when the plaque accumulates and restricts blood flow to the heart muscle, you might experience exhaustion or shortness of breath, particularly when exercising.

• Angina, or chest pain, is the most typical sign of CAD. Some people mistake it for heartburn or indigestion.
• Your chest hurts when you have angina. Additionally, you can have that sensation in your jaw, shoulders, arms, or back. You might experience:
• Tightness
• Discomfort
• Pressure
• Heaviness
• Burning, Squeezing, Aching, and Numbness
• Fullness

Types of Coronary artery disease

There are two main types of coronary artery disease:

• Stable ischemic heart disease: The chronic type of heart disease is called stable ischemic heart disease. Over many years, your coronary arteries gradually narrow. With time, your heart gets less blood that is rich in oxygen.
• Acute coronary syndrome: It is a sudden, life-threatening condition. Your heart's blood supply is cut off when the plaque in your coronary artery unexpectedly bursts and produces a blood clot. A heart attack results from this sudden obstruction.

Causes, Risk Factors and Complications of Coronary Artery Disease

Causes

• The accumulation of lipids, cholesterol, and other materials in and on the heart artery walls causes coronary artery disease. This condition is called atherosclerosis. We refer to the accumulation as plaque. The arteries may narrow due to plaque, obstructing blood flow. Additionally, the plaque may rupture, resulting in a blood clot.

Some causes of atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease are:

• Insulin resistance and diabetes
• Elevated blood pressure
• Lack of exercise
• Tobacco use or smoking

Risk Factors

• The risk factors for coronary artery disease are numerous. Discuss with your doctor what you can do to reduce these risk factors:
• Being over 55 if you're a woman and over 45 if you're a man.
• Having a biological relative who has heart disease, particularly a mother or sister who was diagnosed before the age of 65 or a father or brother who was diagnosed before the age of 55.
• Consuming large amounts of refined carbs or saturated fat.
• Not getting enough exercise.
• Inadequate sleep.
• Using tobacco products such as smoking
• Suffering from atherosclerosis.
• Elevated blood pressure.
• Elevated LDL (or "bad") cholesterol.
• Low levels of HDL (or "good") cholesterol.
• hypertriglyceridemia, or elevated triglycerides.
• Anaemia.
• Autoimmune conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.
• Chronic renal disease.
• Diabetes.
• HIV/AIDS.
• Metabolic syndrome.
• A BMI (body mass index) of more than 25.
• Sleep disturbances

Complications

The CAD can weaken your heart over time and cause problems like:

• Arrhythmias include irregular heartbeats such as atrial fibrillation.
• Cardiac arrest.
• Cardiac shock.
• Heart failure.

Latest Research and Technologies in the Treatment of Coronary Artery Disease in Malaysia

Significant progress has been made in Malaysia in the treatment of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), utilising cutting-edge tools and methods to improve patient outcomes:​

• Bioadaptive Angioplasty: This procedure is available in Malaysia. In addition to opening blocked arteries, the device uncages the vessel once it has healed, allowing the arteries to pulse and operate more normally. This lowers the risk of heart attacks and the need for recurrent surgeries. ​
• Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS): IVUS technology helps guide Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) treatments and diagnose blockages by providing detailed imaging of the heart's blood arteries. Research has demonstrated that IVUS-guided procedures successfully improve long-term results because they lead to a much reduced rate of target vascular failure compared to non-IVUS procedures.

Coronary Artery Disease Prevention Tips

• Certain risk factors are beyond your control; therefore, you can't always avoid coronary artery disease. However, there are strategies to reduce your risk of coronary artery disease and help keep it from growing worse:
• Commit to quitting smoking and all tobacco use.
• Consume heart-healthy meals.
• Make sure you get enough rest.
• Maintain a healthy weight for yourself.
• Find out your heart disease risk.
• Don't drink too much.
• Increase your movement.
• Continue taking your prescription medications.