Overview of coronary artery disease (cad)

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Coronary artery disease is a condition in which the blood supply to the heart muscle is partially or completely blocked.
The heart muscle needs a constant supply of oxygen-rich blood. The coronary arteries, which branch off the aorta just after it leaves the heart, deliver this blood. Coronary artery disease that narrows one or more of these arteries can block blood flow, causing chest pain (angina) or a heart attack (also called myocardial infarction, or MI).
Coronary artery disease was once widely thought to be a man’s disease. On average, men develop it about 10 years earlier than women because, until menopause, women are protected by high levels of estrogen . After menopause, coronary artery disease becomes more common among women. Among people aged 75 and older, a higher proportion of women have the disease because women live longer.
In developed countries, coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women, accounting for about one third of all deaths. Coronary artery disease, specifically coronary atherosclerosis (literally “hardening of the arteries,” which involves fatty deposits in the artery walls and may progress to narrowing and even blockage of blood flow in the artery), occurs in about 2 to 9% (depending on sex and race) of people aged 20 and older. The death rate increases with age and overall is higher for men than for women, particularly between the ages of 35 and 55. After age 55, the death rate for men declines, and the rate for women continues to climb. After age 70 to 75, the death rate for women exceeds that for men who are the same age.
Coronary artery disease affects people of all races, but the incidence is extremely high among blacks and Southeast Asians. The death rate is higher for black men than for white men until age 60 and is higher for black women than for white women until age 75.