Question: What is heart disease, what are the causes, and how
long does it take to develop? Answer: Coronary artery disease is
alarmingly common in our society. You'd think that we could very
easily describe what it is, but, in fact, simply put: it is
disease of the arteries lining the surface of the heart. The
heart is a very strong pump. It has to pump blood to the rest of
the body, and therefore, it's very dependent upon blood itself
to develop the energy it takes to service this very strong pump
that keeps us alive. The coronary arteries, unfortunately, are
prone to become diseased, and by 'diseased' we mean thickening
of the wall of the artery itself. This often begins very early
in life, and, in fact, a lot of the concern about the diets that
our teenagers are eating today has to do with the early
formation of disease in these arteries, or thickening of the
walls of the coronary arteries. The risk factors that we know
about are very well understood. That is high blood pressure,
high blood sugar or diabe