Keeping your heart healthy is essential to your overall health and well being. The staff at WakeMed Heart Center offers the following information to help you better understand your heart and how to take care of it.
Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States.
In North Carolina, every 21 minutes someone dies from complications of coronary heart disease. The most common form of heart disease is called atherosclerosis where fat-like deposits build up on the walls of the coronary arteries leading to the heart. These arteries are the source of blood that allows the heart to do its job of pumping blood throughout the body. When these arteries become clogged, the blood flow is lessened, causing the heart to work harder. If the blood flow is cut off completely, you have a heart attack.