The number-one killer in the industrialized world is coronary artery disease (CAD). The arteries of the muscle of the heart are very susceptible to oxidative stress. The oxygen and nutrient requirements of the heart muscle cells are massive. The heart never rests! Thus, these vessels are critical lifelines for the heart muscle to be able to function.

Blockages cause major troubles for the cells. The body has established vast pathways of vessels and capillaries and to provide the needed “interstate” arteries as well as the tiny side “roads.”

Blockages  cause oxidative stress in the cardiac muscle cells. This oxidative stress can cause REDOX chemical reactions, which result in malformed proteins—proteins that fail to produce the contractions (muscle squeezing) necessary to pump blood throughout the body.

Oxidative stress in the muscle cells causes a chemical imbalance inside the cells (NAD(P) oxidase, and a breakdown in the mitochondria’s (cellular power plants) ability to create energy via electron chain transport system. This buildup (like rusting) and oxidative stress, coupled with a lack of ATP (energy) being produced by the muscle cell, causes weakness in contraction ability. Cells can actually die from exhaustion as well. Some cells weaken so much that they dilate (enlarge), resulting in heart enlargement (congestive heart failure).

Treatment is challenging. Symptomatic treatment may include stretching the vessels open with balloons placed in the arteries through angioplasty/angiography, which can be life-saving. Best, however, is to get at the heart of the problem (pun intended), by decreasing oxidative stress. Obesity, hypertension, and elevated blood lipids are REDOX mediated issues that respond to foundational lifestyle changes and supplementation of REDOX signaling molecules.