The heart needs blood to provide oxygen and nutrients for its proper functioning. These requirements are offered by the coronary arteries that start at the base of the aorta and extend around the heart surface.
The coronary arteries remain at risk for tapering because cholesterol accumulations called plaques build up within the artery. In narrow arteries, blood supply to the heart muscle might slowdown and this decrease of blood flow to the heart results in pain or angina.
Heart or Cardiovascular diseases embrace many conditions that affect the structures as well as the function of the heart. They can include:
- Coronary artery disease that includes heart attack
- Irregular heart rhythms or arrythmias
- Heart valve disease
- Heart failure
- Congenital heart disease
- Heart muscle disease or cardiomyopathy
- Pericardial disease
- Aorta disease
- Marfan syndrome
- Vascular or blood vessel disease
Cardiovascular disease is the main reason behind death for both men and women.
Heart Disease: Symptoms
Each kind of heart disease has its own peculiar symptoms but many heart problems have similar symptoms. The symptoms depend on the type and acuteness of your heart condition.
Coronary Artery Disease
The common symptom is angina. Angina is an uneasiness, heaviness, stress, and burning, compressing or painful sensation in your chest. It can be misinterpreted as problem of indigestion. Angina starts in the chest but can also impact the shoulders, arms, neck, throat, jaw or back.
Other symptoms of coronary artery disease are:
- Breathlessness
- Palpitations that are improper heart beats, omitted beats or a strange feeling in your chest
- Fast heartbeat
- Sweating
- Weakness
- Nausea
Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction or MI)
The symptoms include:
- Uneasiness, pressure or pain in the chest, arm or underneath the breastbone
- Pain that moves into the back, jaw or arm
- Feeling of heartburn or choking feeling
- Indigestion
- Sweating
- Nausea, vomiting or dizziness
- Extreme weakness and anxiety
- Irregular heartbeats
During a heart attack, these symptoms characteristically remain for half an hour and are not comforted by rest or any medications. The initial symptoms start as a meek uneasiness but develops into considerable pain.
Diagnosis
The initial diagnostic step is a doctor's examination. The tests used in diagnosis are
ECG or EKG: An electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) is an examination which records the electrical activity of your heart via tiny electrode patches fixed to the skin of your chest, hands, and legs. It might be a part of routine examination or is used to test heart disease. An EKG is also needed to inspect signs linked to heart diseases. It is used if a heart disease is suspected.
The doctor needs the EKG to:
- Evaluate the heart rhythm.
- Check for reduced blood flow to the heart muscle
- Diagnose a heart attack.
- Assess some irregularities of your heart like an enlarged heart.
Stress Test: It is a test used to check how well your heart responds to exertion.
Tilt Table Test: The head-up tilt table test is needed to aid in looking for the reason behind fainting spells.
Cardiac Catheterization: Cardiac catheterization is also known as coronary angiogram. It implies running a catheter into your heart. It is performed to aid the doctors to see the inside of the heart and if any operation is required.
Electrophysiology Test: Electrophysiology test is used to make measurements of your heart rhythm. It records the electrical activity and passages of your heart.
CT Heart Scan: Computed tomography (CT scan) of the heart is needed in certain heart conditions to get a picture of your heart’s anatomy.
Myocardial Biopsy: In a myocardial biopsy, the doctor makes use of a special catheter to take out a portion of your heart tissue for examination.
Heart MRI: A heart MRI is a test used to get visualization on how your heart is functioning.
Pericardiocentesis: Pericardiocentesis (a pericardial tap) implements via using a needle to extract a fluid sample from the sac around the heart.
Causes of heart diseases
Cholesterol levels: High total cholesterol levels are mainly responsible for heart disease. A total cholesterol level more than 200, a HDL cholesterol level lesser than 40, or a LDL cholesterol level more than 150 point to a high risk for heart disease.
High Blood pressure: Hypertension or high blood pressure is the most common cause of heart disease.
Sedentary Life Style: An inactive lifestyle with infrequent or no exercise is another cause of heart disease. These people have higher rates of heart disease.
Diet: You should go for a heart-healthy diet which is low in cholesterol. You should try to intake more vitamins particularly antioxidants that decrease your risk for heart disease.
- Maintain a healthy weight. Excessive weight puts a great pressure on your heart and can cause diabetes. A proper diet and regular exercise routine can decrease your weight and the risk of heart disease.
- Stress: If you are not able to manage your stress and anger, it can cause heart attacks.
- Control diabetes: If diabetes is not properly controlled, it can cause heart damage and heart attacks.
Treatment
You need not live with persistent chest pain. The treatments for coronary heart disease include medicine, open heart surgery, and less invasive procedures such as angioplasty.
Medicine for Heart Disease: Most people with heart disease take medicine to control their problems and prevent a heart attack. You should take medicine to lower your blood pressure and cholesterol. Some people take aspirin or other anti-clotting medicine to decrease the probability of a heart attack. Along with these medications, you must quit smoking, maintain a low fat diet and do a regular exercise.
Angioplasty and Heart Stents: In order to treat clogged arteries, a minimally invasive treatment called angioplasty is used. Here a tiny balloon is inserted in the blocked artery and it is inflated to thrust the plaque build-up next to the wall of the artery. It is seen that re-blockage occurs in patients who have been treated with balloon angioplasty. This re-blockage is called restenosis and need another procedure to open the artery again. In order to avoid this, stents are used in maximum angioplasties. Stents are mesh metal tubes that open the blood vessels of the heart. The stent may be drug-coated stent or an uncoated stent.
Open Heart Surgery: Open heart surgery or a coronary artery bypass graft,apart of vein or artery is inserted as a coronary artery bypass. This bypass generates new paths around the blocked arteries to let adequate flow of blood to transport oxygen to the heart.