Looking for analogies for Coronary Artery Disease...

[Needles McGee, RN]

Hi folks! I'm writing a paper and I need to use analogies/everyday examples to explain a disease to a patient. I am wondering if anyone has a good analogy or two for Coronary Artery Disease. I was going to use an analogy of grease and a drain pipe to explain atherosclerosis...but, maybe someone else has a better analogy? Thanks! :)

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

I'm not sure that would be an appealing metaphor. :)

I usually say that the heart doesn't get its oxygen from the blood it pumps; it has its own little arteries that branch off the aorta and fill when the heart muscle rests between beats.

Since a lot of people with CAD have the experience, or at least understanding, of how decreased arterial flow elsewhere makes for decreased function or ischemic pain, then I say that if those coronary arteries have any blockages in them, they cannot give the heart muscle the oxygen it needs to work well. I guess you could say that it's like needing a good water flow in the shower, and if there's a flow restrictor in the shower head there isn't enough water to do the job.

[LearningByMistakes]

I use the idea of traveling down a highway (for my area it would be I-95) and you come across road construction and the travel lanes get restricted from 2 or 3 lanes, to 1 lane. Thus the traffic backs up and slows the movement thru the area.

And then when an MI occurs (complete blockage/ an MVA) the idea of how you would try to get off the highway and look for an "alternate" (collateral vessels) means of travel, via side roads, etc., to get around the closure of the highway.

Very simple, but usually seems to work when trying to explain. Hope it helps