Most people eat from a somewhat restricted dietary selection. They eat a traditional, customary, or habitual diet. In the United States, this customary fare has long included large amounts of animal fat in such foods as eggs, milk, butter, pork, and beef. Most people tolerate this diet extremely well. Nonetheless, large numbers of people face the problem of elevated levels of blood cholesterol. Elevated cholesterol levels may cause premature development of hardening of the arteries, atherosclerosis, and the associated problems of heart attack and stroke.
When the circulation of blood through the coronary arteries—the arteries that feed blood to the heart muscle—decreases too much, a portion of the heart muscle dies. This is a myocardial infarction, or a heart attack. Hardening of the coronary arteries occurs because of the deposition of cholesterol in the walls of the blood vessels. These deposits prevent the blood vessel from relaxing and opening wider when necessary, and they also may narrow the existing opening in the blood vessel, impairing the flow of blood.
Smoking cessation is good preventive health care. It is particularly important for patients suffering from a select list of health problems. This list includes angina pectoris (heart pain), heart attack, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (including emphysema and/or chronic bronchitis), stroke, dyspepsia, and osteoporosis. You are never too old to gain a benefit from stopping smoking.
Most people eat from a somewhat restricted dietary selection. They eat a traditional, customary, or habitual diet. In the United States, this customary fare has long included large amounts of animal fat in such foods as eggs, milk, butter, pork, and beef. Most people tolerate this diet extremely well. Nonetheless, large numbers of people face the problem of elevated levels of blood cholesterol. Elevated cholesterol levels may cause premature development of hardening of the arteries, atherosclerosis, and the associated problems of heart attack and stroke.
When the circulation of blood through the coronary arteries—the arteries that feed blood to the heart muscle—decreases too much, a portion of the heart muscle dies. This is a myocardial infarction, or a heart attack. Hardening of the coronary arteries occurs because of the deposition of cholesterol in the walls of the blood vessels. These deposits prevent the blood vessel from relaxing and opening wider when necessary, and they also may narrow the existing opening in the blood vessel, impairing the flow of blood.
