Heart & Cardiovascular Disease

What is cardiovascular disease?

Cardiovascular diseases are diseases which involves heart and blood vessels.Usually, all cardiovascular diseases affect the cardiovascular system but most common of these diseases is coronary heart disease.

The heart gets its own supply of blood from a network of blood vessels on the surface of your heart, called coronary arteries.



Coronary Heart Disease

Coronary heart disease is the term in which heart's blood supply is interrupted or blocked by a fatty substance which builds up in the coronary arteries.This process is known as atherosclerosis and the fatty deposits are called atheroma.Atherosclerosis causes your arteries to become narrow which stops the blood supply to heart.

This condition then turns into angina causing chest pains, which is a state before an heart attack.
And when the coronary artery becomes completely blocked, heart attack occurs.

As the age increases, the risk for coronary heart disease also increases.Older age people are more affected by this disease.



Symptoms

Chest pain (Angina) is the symptom if your coronary artery is partially blocked.If your coronary artery is completely blocked it causes heart attack as a symptom.

Coronary heart disease also cause heart palpitations.Heart palpitations occur when your heart beats irregularly, or harder than normal.

Heart failure can occur in people with coronary heart disease. The heart becomes too weak to pump blood around the body which can cause fluid to build up in the lungs, making it difficult to breath. Heart failure can happen suddenly (acute heart failure), or gradually, over a period of time (chronic heart failure).

The symptoms of angina

Angina is a symptom of coronary heart disease. It is a mild, uncomfortable feeling just like indigestion. However, a severe angina attack can cause a feeling of heaviness, or tightness, usually in the centre of the chest, which may spread to the arms, neck, jaw, back, or stomach.

The symptoms of a heart attack

The discomfort or pain of a heart attack is similar to that of angina, but it is often more severe. During a heart attack you may also experience the following symptoms:

• sweating,
• light-headedness,
• nausea, and
• breathlessness.

Causes

Your risk of developing atherosclerosis is significantly increased if you:

• smoke,
• have high blood pressure,
• have a high blood cholesterol level,
• do not take regular exercise,
• have a thrombosis, and
• have diabetes.

Other risk factors for developing atherosclerosis include:

• being obese or overweight, and
• having a family history of heart attack or angina.

For men, the likelihood of developing atherosclerosis is increased if you have a close family member who has had a heart attack, or angina.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a fat that is made by the liver from the saturated fat that we eat. Cholesterol is essential for healthy cells but, if there is too much in the blood, it can lead to coronary heart disease.

High blood pressure

Hypertension (high blood pressure) puts a strain on your heart and can lead to coronary heart disease.

Thrombosis

A thrombosis is a blood clot within an artery or a vein.If a thrombosis occurs in a coronary artery, it will cause the artery to narrow, increasing your chance of having a heart attack.



Treatment

Coronary heart disease cannot be cured properly, but the development of new medicines and improvements in surgical procedures, can now be managed more effectively.With the right treatment, the symptoms of coronary heart disease can be reduced, and the functioning of the heart improved.

Medicines

Many different medicines are used to treat coronary heart disease.

Some heart medicines have side effects so it may take a while to find one that works for you. Some of the medicines that are commonly used to treat heart conditions are outlined below.


Low dose aspirin and 'clot-busting' medication
A low dose aspirin and/or a clot-busting medicine may be prescribed for you by your doctor,This type of medicine will help prevent your blood clotting, reducing your risk of heart attack and angina.

Anticoagulants

Anticoagulants, such as warfarin, are sometimes used to stop the blood clotting.

Statins

A high level of 'bad cholesterol' (LDL) in your blood, can cause a build up of atheroma in your arteries, increasing your risk of heart attack.If you have a high blood cholesterol level, cholesterol-lowering medicine, called statins, may be prescribed.

Anti-arrhythmic medicine

Anti-arrhythmic medicine is sometimes used to control the rhythm of your heart.This type of medicine is most effective when exactly the right level is in your bloodstream, so correct dosage should be taken.

Surgical procedures

If your blood vessels are very narrow due to a build up of atheroma (fatty deposits), or if your symptoms cannot be controlled using medication, surgery may be needed to open up, or replace, the blocked arteries.

Coronary artery bypass

A coronary artery bypass is a procedure that allows the blood flowing through the coronary artery to bypass the part of the artery that is blocked. This is a major operation because it involves using an artery from another region of the body.

Heart transplant

Sometimes,when the heart is severely damaged and medicine is not effective, or when the heart becomes less efficient at pumping blood around the body (heart failure) a heart transplant may be required. A heart transplant involves replacing a heart that is damaged,with a healthy donor heart.