This is where it gets gross.
If you were to cut through a healthy artery and look down it, it would look like a straw. Here's a picture of looking through a healthy artery.
The inside of an unhealthy artery gets coated in hard fat called plaque. Over time this plaque can build up, making artery walls thicker and thicker. As it does this, it makes the space inside the tube smaller and smaller, making it more difficult for the blood to go through the artery. This is called atherosclerosis.
Do you want to see what an unhealthy artery with plaque looks like?
The same amount of blood must go through this artery, even though it is a smaller area.
The most common cause of heart attack happens when the blood can no longer get through the arteries that give oxygen to the heart muscle itself. These arteries are called coronary arteries. This can happen in two ways:
- The plaque inside the coronary artery might get so thick it closes it so no blood can get through. This is what a coronary artery filled with plaque would look like:
2. A piece of the plaque in your coronary artery might break loose and get stuck in a spot where it blocks the blood from flowing through.
A heart attack is a scary thing. What do you think you can you do to prevent one?
STOP AND THINK
  
|
