CHIP update: Plaque: The silent killer

During this past week of the Coronary Health Improvement Project or CHIP, we spent our time learning about the causes of heart disease.

It’s easy to tune out all this stuff when you hear it on TV, but it’s a whole lot harder when facilitator Jere Clayburn and via DVD, Dr. Hans Diehl, is up close and personal about it.

It really hits home when Diehl shows you what a clogged artery looks like when it’s three-quarters blocked by plaque.
Imagine how hard your heart muscle has to work when the arteries are clogged. To demonstrate this, think about the kitchen sink when it gets plugged up with grease. The water passing through the drain slows to a trickle. Why? Because it’s blocked. Plaque plays the same role in your arteries. When the artery “pipes” become clogged, the blood flow is reduced to the heart.

What happens? Angina, which is chest pain that occurs when your heart muscle isn’t getting enough blood.
What’s the worst-case scenario? A fatal heart attack.

The seriousness of coronary heart disease was proven with the sudden death of TV journalist Tim Russert at 58.
What killed Russert? A heart attack.
What caused it? Coronary artery disease.

To read the entire story, see the print edition of the Hutchinson Leader for Tuesday, July 29, 2008.

(Kay Johnson is a staff writer at the Hutchinson Leader. She can be reached at johnson@hutchinsonleader.com).