rteries supply them. There are twomain coronary arteries, the left coronary artery, and the right coronary artery. They branchoff of the main artery of the body, the aorta. The right coronary artery circles the right sideand goes to the back of the heart. The left coronary artery further divides into the leftcircumflex and the left anterior descending artery. These two left arteries feed the frontand the left side of the heart. The division of the left coronary artery is the reason whydoctors usually refer to three main coronary arteries. There are three main symptoms of coronary heart disease: heart attack, suddendeath, and angina. Heart attack occurs when a blood clot is suddenly formed and itcompletely blocks a diseased coronary artery, resulting in the death of the heart musclecells supplied by that artery. Coronary and Coronary Thrombosis2 are terms that canrefer to a heart attack. Another term, Acute myocardial infraction2, means death of theheart muscle due to an inadequate blood supply. When sudden death occurs, it can beattributed to cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest could possibly be the first symptom ofcoronary artery disease, and may occur without any symptoms or warning signs. Othercauses of sudden deaths include drowning, suffocation, electrocution, drug overdose,trauma (such as in automobile accidents), and stroke. Drowning, suffocation, and drugoverdose usually cause respiratory arrest, which in turn causes cardiac arrest. Traumamay cause sudden death by severe injury to the heart or brain, or by severe blood loss.Stroke causes damage to the brain, which can cause respiratory arrest and/or cardiacarrest. People with coronary artery disease, whether or not they have had a heart attack,may experience intermittent chest pain, pressure, or discomfort. This situation is knownas angina pectoris. It occurs when the narrowing of the coronary arteries temporarilyprevents an adequate supply of blood and oxygen from meeting t...
