You may also be asked to wear a portable ECG monitor for 24-48 hours. Unusual patterns of electrical activity can indicate that you’ve had a heart attack. Electrocardiogram: a test to measure the electrical activity in your heart that controls the heartbeat.If you’re experiencing symptoms that could be linked to coronary artery disease or your doctor thinks that you might be at risk, then you may need to have some or all of the following tests.
You are more likely to be affected if you are over 40, overweight, you smoke, or if you have a problem such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure. Sometimes the symptoms can be very mild, in other cases they can be severe or even fatal.Įven if you haven’t noticed any of these symptoms, your cardiologist might still want to check for coronary heart disease, especially if you are at higher risk. It may cause pain in your arm, jaw or shoulder, crushing pain in your chest, breathlessness, sweating or other symptoms. Heart attack: if a coronary artery becomes completely blocked, you can have a heart attack.This can be a sign that your heart isn’t pumping enough oxygen around your body. Breathlessness: you may get breathless more easily when exercising or find that you’re short of breath even when you aren’t doing much.It usually goes away if you rest for a few minutes, but can return when you are physically active, excited, or stressed. Angina: a sensation of pain or tightness across your chest, usually focused in the middle or left side.When this happens, you could experience the following effects. Symptoms of Coronary Artery DiseaseĬoronary artery disease doesn’t usually cause any symptoms until the arteries have become so narrow that the blood supply to the heart muscle is affected. It may be possible to improve the blood supply to your heart muscle in order to prevent these problems. The effects can be very serious and may even be fatal, so it is important to know if there are any blockages in your coronary arteries. When the heart muscle is starved of oxygen, it can cause angina (chest pain) or a heart attack. The cells won’t be able to move properly, and they may even start to die. If the blood supply through the coronary arteries is restricted, the heart cells might not get the supplies that they need to keep working. The heart cells are very active as the heart is constantly beating, so they need a lot of nutrients and oxygen.
However, if the artery becomes very narrow or blocked it can suddenly cause serious problems. There is also a risk that clumps or material or blood clots can form, which could move into narrower blood vessels and cause blockages there.Ĭoronary artery disease usually develops slowly, without causing any noticeable symptoms. If too much plaque is deposited in the arteries, it can prevent the blood from flowing properly or even block the blood vessel completely. The most common cause of these blockages is a build-up of fatty material or plaque inside the arteries. It happens when the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle become blocked or narrowed. You might also have tests to check your heart for blockages if you’ve been having symptoms that could be caused by coronary artery disease.Ĭoronary artery disease or coronary heart disease is the most common type of cardiovascular disease. A blocked artery in your heart could put you at risk of a heart attack, so it is one of the issues that your cardiologist will look out for during heart screening.