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located and what other medical condi-tions you may have.

Angioplasty is often used when the artery is not completely blocked and the blockage can be reached using a long, thin plastic tube called a catheter. Te procedure can also be used during a heart attack to quickly open a blocked artery.

Bypass surgery could be recommended if you have severe heart disease or multi-ple arteries that are blocked or if you have diabetes or heart failure. In an emergency, it can be performed during a heart attack.

About angioplasty

During angioplasty, a doctor makes a small cut in your arm or upper thigh to insert a catheter with a defated balloon at the tip.

Te catheter is threaded through a blood vessel and into the artery in the heart until it reaches the blockage. Te balloon is then infated to push the plaque back against the artery wall.

Once the plaque is compressed, the

options

If you were a car, your heart would be the engine that keeps you run-ning. But your car can’t run if it doesn’t have gas. And your heart can’t beat with-out a steady fow of blood.

Fortunately, mechanics can fx cars, and expert medical care can help keep hearts from stalling.

Blocked arteries

A common reason for reduced blood fow to the heart is atherosclerosis— the buildup of fatty deposits called plaque inside artery walls. Over time, hardened plaque can narrow the arteries, reducing or even stopping blood fow.

If the condition develops in arteries on the heart’s surface, it’s called coronary artery disease (CAD)—the leading cause of death for men and women in the U.S. If you have CAD, your doctor may recommend angioplasty or bypass surgery to keep the blood fowing.

Te kind of treatment depends on how severe the blockages are, where they’re

Learn more

You can learn more about angioplasty and bypass surgery at these websites.

Visit the American Heart Association at

www.heart.org and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute at www.nhlbi.nih.gov .

Methods to clear your arteries and help save your life

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  Health Scene • www.bmhsc.org