This is a highly technical paper on the disease. It assumes a basic knowledge of medical terms, so I thought just to warn you beforehand.
Arteriosclerotic heart disease (ASHD) is a slowly progressive heart condition that causes: internal thickening and plaque formation on coronary arteries due to fatty substance buildup, fibrosis, calcification and narrowing of the coronary arteries, and a slow constriction of the blood supply to the heart.
This occurs in three stages:
1)Fatty Streak Formation- Thin, slightly elevated yellow lines or dots appear during childhood.
2)Fibrous Plaque Formation- Fibrous plaque develops and produces a low-grade inflammatory reaction.
3)Stage of Complication- Necrosis, calcification, vascularizaiton of the plaque happens here.
ASHD is the most common clinical form of coronary heart disease. The exact nature is still unknown. Here are the most thought of theories:
1)Aging Theory- Atherosclerotic changes within the arteries are a normal part of aging. This means that it affects everyone to some degree. The main objection is that some elderly people have not shown these signs during autopsy and some young people have.
2)Metabolic theory- This theory states that atherosclerosis is caused by a disturbance in lipid metabolism. There has been a large amount of research in this area with results that have not been conclusive.
3)Stress theory- There are higher rates in high technological areas, which has led some to believe that stress can cause this problem. The only evidence that supporters of this theory has is that the rates are lower in less stressful parts of the world.
4)Endocrine Theory- Sex hormones could be a reason. Atherosclerosis is more common in men and women after menopause. Young women before menopause have lower lipoprotein then men and older women. Serum levels of lipoproteins have a correlation to rates of atherosclerosis.
5)Multifactoral Theory- This theory states that genetic factors and environmental factors both play a role in this illness.
There are three distinct patterns of atherosclerosis.
1)Distribtuion of lesions
A) Limited to arteries
B) Limited to aorta
C) Limited to arteries supplying the kidneys.
2)Progression of lesions
A) Rapid and death within a year
B) Slow with remissions
3)Characteristics of lesions
A) Formation of atherosclerotic plaque
B) Formation of aneurysm
There are three types of progression:
1)Unrecognized ASHD- No symptoms, and only noticed during an autopsy
2)Asymptomatic ASHD- Pathologic changes occur, but patient is symptom free
3)Clinical ASHD: Signs of heart disease are seen, and patient suffers symptoms. Some symptoms include chest pain, heart failure, death, or angina.
The diagnosis of ASHD is found by the following method.
1)Found out the history of the attacks
2)A Coronary arteriography demonstrates the presence of calcification and the degree of obstruction.
3)ECG tracing are looked at for past problems.
4)Blood cholesterol is tested.
5)A stress test is given to determine how much activity it takes before pain develops.
Treatment of the illness is mostly prevention and treatment of specific symptoms.

Some information from Luckmann and Sorensen Psychophysiologic Approach to Medical Nursing