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To Understand Heart Disease, You Need To Understand This.

Dr. Paddy Barrett

Heart disease does not kill people. Heart attacks do. Appreciating this distinction is critical to understanding heart disease. Heart disease is the presence of plaque or atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries. In this instance, a heart attack. But does this approach work?

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At What Age Should You Think About Assessing Your Risk For Heart Disease?

Dr. Paddy Barrett

Everyone starts with no plaque in the coronary arteries, but over a long enough time frame, everyone develops plaque in their coronary arteries. By age 80, almost everyone will have evidence of advanced plaque in their coronary arteries, as defined by a cardiac CT 1. Plaque accumulation happens in stages. You got it.