What is "coronary heart disease"?

What is "coronary heart disease"?

Coronary heart disease is any disease that affects blood flow through the coronary arteries. The coronary arteries are the arteries supplying the heart. They come off of the aorta here, right at the top of the heart. And actually, because they spread out over the heart, they were thought to look sort of like a crown. So they're called coronary arteries, or the word "corona" or "crown," all come from the same place. They branch out over the heart and they send out little branches, not only over the surface of the heart, as here, but actually diving down deep into the heart muscle, where they bring oxygen through the blood to supply every cell throughout the heart. So every cell that's doing all the work of pumping is supplied by blood flow coming through the coronary arteries.The coronary arteries can increase this flow enormously when we exercise. So if we do anything that raises our blood pressure and heart rate, like running down the block, or for that matter, emotional work--having an argument with someone, getting up and giving a lecture--blood flow through the heart is needed to increase. And in fact, these arteries can greatly expand; they can open up and let more blood flow through.