Hypoxia and Medicine

How does plaque build-up in the heart prodcue a thrombosis, cardiac ischemia, and a heart attack?

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1. An artery wall thickens as the result of a build-up of fatty materials such as cholesterol. The plaques contain lipids, inflammatory cells, smooth muscle cells, and connective tissue. Calcium deposit may also occur in the arteries particularly in the coronary artery leading to coronary artery disease. The rough surface of the deposit may trigger the formation of a blood clot leading to heart attack. The blood clot in the left main coronary artery is the most fatal because the main pumping of the blood from the left ventricle is affected.
2. Eating a high fat diet. That is what causes the build up in the arteries. Sometimes it is hereditary and runs in families even though you eat healthily. Here is a link to the UK NHS website which will tell you all you want to know about the questions you have asked. http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Coronary-heart-disease/Pages/Introduction.aspx
3. The plaque impedes local blood flow in a coronary artery or one of its branches, leading to clot formation. The developing clot further impedes blood flow which reduces oxygen perfusion of heart muscle tissue (ischemia), and when the clot enlarges to completely obstruct the artery lumen, blood supply to the affected area of heart muscle tissue ceases, and the affected muscle tissue dies (myocardial infarction), which constitutes a heart attack.