Heart Attack Causes
Heart attacks nearly always occur in people with coronary heart disease (CHD), but some people may not know they have CHD until the heart attack happens. For others, a heart attack can happen after weeks, months or years of treatment for heart disease.
What are the causes of heart attack?
The underlying cause of CHD is a slow build-up of fatty deposits on the inner wall of the arteries that supply the heart muscle with blood. These fatty deposits called 'plaque' gradually clog and narrow the inside channel of the arteries.
A heart attack usually begins when an area of plaque cracks. Blood cells and other components of the blood stick over the damaged area and form a clot that suddenly and completely blocks the blood flow to the heart muscle beyond the clot. If the artery remains blocked, the lack of blood permanently damages the area of heart muscle supplied by that artery.