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The Western World and Ischemic Heart Disease
2008-03-06 17:49:00
Ischemic heart disease is the proper medical term for reduced blood flow to the heart – it is ultimately caused by hardened or blocked arteries, and it is the number one cause of death in most western countries.From the time people are very young, as young as five years old, they can start developing tissue deposits, called plaque, in the lining of their arteries. For many people, these deposits never cause trouble. For others, the deposits can grow, harden, and eventually cause death. The growth of these tissues is called arteriosclerosis.As these tissues grow, the arteries will enlarge some to try and accommodate blood flow. However, if the blob of plaque ruptures, the particles clog blood passages causing a heart attack or stroke, in the worst cases.Please, Pass On The FatsScientists know what causes ischemic heart disease: a fatty diet, inaction, and smoking. While smoking is certainly not limited to rich countries, a fatty diet and inaction are luxuries of middle- and upper-c...
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Three Categories of Heart Disease Treatment
2008-03-05 17:51:00
Heart disease includes plaque-blocked arteries, congenital conditions, arrhythmia, and diseases of the actual heart muscle. Whether heart disease is detected early or not revealed until after heart failure, doctors have many kinds of remedies and treatments to reduce the risks of further heart disease. Broadly defined, there are three categories of heart disease treatment.Take Two and Call Me in the MorningIf your heart is beating too quickly, or if the arteries around it contract tightly, the heart will be overtaxed, like revving an engine that’s in park. Doctors prescribe three classes of pills called nitrates, beta blockers, and calcium channel blockers to let the heart run efficiently. Each of these types of heart disease treatments help the heart to beat regularly and slowly, or expand the arteries in the area of the heart so that blood flow is more regular.Everyone has seen TV ads promoting Aspirin to thin the blood and reduce the risk of blood clots causing blocked arteries...
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Effects of Kidney and Heart Disease
2008-03-05 17:50:00
Good health is something you cannot take for granted; thus, constantly maintaining it by eating well, exercising, and having regular check ups is what every one of us must strive for.All our body parts and organs are vital for a happy existence; however, the heart is one of the most important organs, without which living is not possible. When faced with heart disease, treatment can be challenging, but when heart problems combine with another major organ failure, there can be fatal consequences.Kidney and Heart Disease Renal and coronary artery disease may progress parallel to each other, and there are many heart related diseases that affect the kidney, as well.Kidney’s function is to filter wastes and excrete fluid by using the bloodstream’s own natural pressure. There are a number of causes that can trigger damage to the kidneys, and some of them are:- Decreased blood flow, which is usually caused by clogged arteries that, in turn, will cause a kidney and heart disease.- Acute t...
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A Brief Discussion of Heart Valve Disease
2008-03-05 17:49:00
As you may remember from high school health class, the heart is one of the strongest muscles in the human body. In addition, it is divided into two halves, called the atrium and the ventricle chambers. Between these two chambers are a set of valves that insure that the blood flows in only one direction. Occasionally however, these valves become damaged and the person could suffer from some sort of heart valve disease. If left unchecked, this disease can lead to heart failure and even death.Signs and SymptomsIt is truly difficult to determine if a set of symptoms are a sign of heart valve disease, since many of them are so mild and can be attributed to a number of different conditions including asthma, heartburn, heart attack, or sometimes even pregnancy. The best thing to do is to have a running conversation with your medical professional concerning your thoughts and physical symptoms. Based on that complete picture, he or she should be able to diagnose your situation professionally...
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What To Do About High Cholesterol
2008-03-05 17:48:00
How do you discover that you have high cholesterol ? It's not completely straightforward, you may be over weight or you may just be aware that you are of an age where cholesterol is an issue. High cholesterol can affect anyone of any age but it is generally more common in people over 40. So if you are of that age you may visit your doctor and ask to be checked or you could purchase a disposable home test kit. The kit will give you a ball park indication about your cholesterol level. If it comes in high or borderline high then you should visit your doctor. Your doctor will give you a proper blood test and get some concrete figures with regards to your total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol readings.When you are first diagnosed as having an unacceptable level of cholesterol your doctor will probably suggest you modify your lifestyle. Of course every case has to be judged on it's own merits. If you have a particularly high cholesterol reading you may be prescribed dru...
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Some Ways That Obesity and Heart Disease are Related
2008-03-02 17:48:00
Many medical professionals believed that obesity and heart disease were only related in an indirect sense. They attributed the major risk factors for heart disease (such as hypertension, high cholesterol, and even arteriosclerosis) to the degree of the obesity of the person involved. While obesity is a contributing factor for many of these conditions, studies are now indicating a more direct link between obesity and heart disease.A More Direct Link?Recent longitudinal studies indicate that while obesity can affect a number of risk factors for heart disease, the two are also directly related in that obesity can be a predictive indicator of heart disease. In a fourteen year study, it was indicated that middle-aged women with a BMI index of greater than twenty-three, but less than twenty-five still had an approximate 50% increase in the risk of both fatal and non-fatal coronary heart disease. This indicates a clear, direct connection between obesity and heart disease.Another factor tha...
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Heart Disease and Weight Gain
2008-02-26 10:39:00
The heart is the life pump for your body; without it, life would end in a matter of minutes. Coronary artery disease is a consequence of inflammation and damage to the vessels that feed your heart. As discussed earlier, smoking, poor diet, high cholesterol, and hypertension can damage these arteries. More specifically, atherosclerotic plaques interrupt flow and decrease the ability of blood to feed the heart.Over time, the decrease in blood flow will become significant when it cannot meet tissue demand. For example, you might experience chest pain during exercise. However, if a plaque ruptures, platelets will activate to form a blood clot, completely disrupting the flow of blood to your heart tissue. The common heart attack, or myocardial infarction, occurs when your heart tissue is in the process of dying. If blood flow remains blocked, heart tissue will die, scar, and become permanently damaged.Another consequence of being obese or having hypertension, involves changes in your hea...
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Heart Disease - Why Do Men Often Fail To Get Treatment?
2008-02-26 10:30:00
Research shows that men generally prefer to 'sweep health problems under the carpet', and on average are far less likely to pay a routine visit to their doctor than women. They either don't like to make a fuss or tend to believe they 'it won't happen to me'.Most health care advisors agree that men, especially men over 40, need to be more willing to have regular health checks for their general health and for conditions like heart disease.A man in his forties is about four times more likely to die of heart disease than a woman of the same age. This is because until menopause, woman's hearts are protected to a degree by the female hormone oestrogen. The risk of developing heart disease increases significantly for women after menopause, but the relative risk for men is always higher.Age is also a factor, as the incidence of heart disease increase steadily for both men and woman as they grow older, although the symptoms of heart disease, such as angina, are fairly uncommon unti th...
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Heart Attack - Causes of Heart Attack
2008-02-13 13:53:00
It is a popular term for an acute failure of the pumping action of the heart, accompanied by lung congestion and the accumulation of fluid in the dependent parts of the body. The symptoms of heart attack include coughing, copious frothy spittle, discomfort when lying down, laboured breathing, rapid heart action, blueness of the skin and lips, swelling of the legs and fatigue. Heart attacks rank first as the cause of death, cancer being second and diabetes third. Men are more prone to heart attacks than women. Heart attacks are not rare in young men between 30 and 35 years of age but beyond 35 years and up to 60, the likelihood of heart-attacks increases sharply. After the age of 60, there is a sharp decrease in the incidence of heart-attacks.Causes of heart attackA major cause of heart failure is coronary thrombosis. In this disorder, a blood clot in one of the small coronary arteries obstructs the delivery of blood to a portion of the heart. If the affected muscle segment dies, the...
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Obesity and Heart Disease
2008-01-21 16:38:00
We only have to look at a Titian painting to recognize that at one point in the history of Western culture, fat was considered beautiful. Before the 20th Century, corpulence was touted as a sign of wealth and luxury, largely because most people were barely surviving on a meager existence.Ironically, now in our era of affluence and plenty, we have to contend with the health and economic problems of obesity. We have a population in North America that is more than 55% overweight. More than 20% of those overweight are considered obese, a situation which proves to be an economic burden on our Health Care system because of the coronary risk factors associated with obesity. In 2004, total national health expenditure in the USA was $1.9 Trillion or $6,280 per person.Why is obesity a risk factor for heart disease?Among obese individuals, triglyceride levels are unusually high, while HDL levels tend to be low; both of these situations are risk factors for heart disease .A recent study involvi...
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Learn Why Tart Cherries Fight Heart Disease And Type 2 Diabetes
2008-01-21 14:57:00
Research dated April 30, 2007 from the University of Michigan reveals some exciting news about the tart cherry and heart health. What was most interesting about the research was the study was conducted not on the tart cherry fruit itself, but tart cherry powder.In most cases, to manufacture the powder the entire cherry is used, including the skin and the flesh of the fruit. Cherry powder can also be defined as a cherry neutraceutical.According to the Foundation of Innovation in Medicine, which created the term "neutraceutical", the definition is:"any substance that may be considered a food or part of a food that provides health benefits, including the prevention of treatment of disease."The results from the study were revealed during the Experimental Biology 2007 meeting in Washington D.C.. Although the study was conducted on rats, the results were so promising the University of Michigan indicated they will soon conduct clinical trials on humans.An Overview of the Cherry Powder Stud...
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Prevention of Congenital Heart Disease (CHD)
2008-01-21 14:55:00
It is indeed difficult to deal with this topic. Not much is known about the various causes, for operating on a pregnant woman, in the first three months of pregnancy, during which period, development of the heart in the fetus is expected to be complete.Under the above circumstances, the best thing would be that all pregnant mothers must undergo a routine ultrasonography, and if some abnormality is suspected, foetal echocardiography must be undertaken for the precise detection of congenital defect in the heart. However, the question of termination of pregnancy must be taken especially in consultation with a heart specialist, or one who is dealing with pediatric cardiac surgery. Many of the congenital lesions of the heart can be satisfactorily treated, though surgically. All aspects of the case must be studied like the number of children, and if the previous offspring have any congenital defect or not, or, if this pregnancy has occurred after a long period of time.Heredity may play so...
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Women and Heart Disease - What Are The Symptoms?
2008-01-17 12:02:00
Heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases are the No. 1 killer of American women- killing nearly 12 times as many American females as breast cancer. More women than men die from cardiovascular diseases each year. 8,000,000 American women are currently living with heart disease. These statistics are staggering and alarming!So, what are the warning signs? The majority of people think of chest pain when having a heart attack, but there are some that do not experience it. In fact, women are less likely than men to feel chest pain during a heart attack. Studies of hundreds of women that have had heart attacks suggest that women usually have different symptoms- such as back pain, nausea, vomiting and /or fatigue. And that 95% experienced symptoms before the attack. So, even if you've already suffered a heart attack, the symptoms of a second attack may not be the same as your first. For this reason, it is important for women to recognize the various signs and symptoms of a ...
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Top 3 Heart Disease Risk Factors
2008-01-16 06:36:00
The American Heritage Dictionary defines a risk factor as, "a characteristic, condition, or behavior, such as high blood pressure or smoking, that increases the possibility of disease or injury." Basically the more heart disease risk factors you have, the more likely you are to develop a health condition like coronary heart disease. While the list of risks is long, we will be discussing three of the top major risk factors which include: high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and tobacco smoke.High CholesterolHigher cholesterol levels increase the risk of developing cardiovascular heart disease. One of the strongest drawbacks of having high cholesterol is that having other risk factors such as hypertension or smoking doesn't just add to the risk, it multiplies it. Your cholesterol level is affected mostly by heredity and diet while age and sex also have influence.HypertensionHigh blood pressure is harder on the heart which can cause it to condense and harden. Not only does it contri...
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Heart Disease Risk Factor: What to Avoid
2008-01-16 06:32:00
A heart disease risk factor is a habit a person follows that makes them more susceptible to this horrible disease. It’s said that more than 58 million Americans suffer from some kind of heart disease, and it is the number one killer of American adults. Heart disease kills more women than the other five top killers combined. For this reason, it’s important to know what we can about this killer so that we may stop it from hurting any more people.Examples of a heart disease risk factor include smoking, eating foods high in fat, and not getting enough exercise. Risk factors harm your heart, your overall health, and essentially, kill you slowly. A heart disease risk factor must be avoided if we hope to avoid this horrible disease.Why Should You Know About Risk Factor s?Heart disease risk factors are important to study so that you can avoid the types of behaviors that bring on this disease. By adopting certain lifestyle changes, we can stay away from the heart disease risk factor that ...
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Discover Diseases Of The Heart
2008-01-14 07:45:00
Unfortunately, heart disease is still among the top 3 killers in the United States.The diseases of the heart include: coronary heart disease, abnormal heart rhythms, heart failure, heart valve disease, congenital heart disease, cardiomyopathy, pericardial disease, marfan syndrome, and vascular disease.All of these diseases affect the structure or function of the heart. Here we look at some of the diseases, including coronary heart disease (the one that most people think of when they think of diseases of the heart), and what causes heart disease of different kinds.Congenital heart disease is a type of birth defect affecting approximately 500,000 adults in the United States. These defects may be minor requiring no treatment at all or more serious, requiring surgery and/or lifelong monitoring and medications.Factors believed to be included in what causes heart disease of this type includes genetics, chromosomal abnormalities, drug use, alcohol use and the use of certain medications dur...
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Congenital Heart Disease - An Overview
2008-01-13 06:34:00
The term congenital heart disease refers to heart defects present in newborns, and results from the failure of one of the heart’s structures, or the blood vessels surrounding the heart, to develop normally.A baby suffering from congenital heart disease will experience obstructed blood flow from the malformed blood vessels, which forces blood back into the heart and puts an additional strain on it. Congenital heart disease can result in an opening in the heart’s wall or a bridge between two arteries near the heart which are normally separate.Congenital heart disease, however, is a relatively common birth defect, and can be diagnosed when the baby is still in utero. Ultrasound screenings done at around the fifth month of the pregnancy can pick up problems in fetal heart development, and in families with a history of congenital heart disease is often performed.Diagnosing Congenital Heart Disease Post-natal congenital heart disease diagnoses usually occur within a few days of the bab...
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Symptoms Of Women's Heart Disease
2008-01-09 12:00:00
In this article we will look at the symptoms of women's heart disease. More women than men have died from heart attacks since 1984. Women do not realize their risk of heart disease is as significant as it is for men. Women should be educated on what the symptoms are so they can seek care early. Appropriate treatment for heart related problems is crucial.The heart disease symptoms that women experience can be different from those of men. Women are less likely to be diagnosed and treated early on because of this. Women should be educated on their potential risk for heart disease. This empowers them to determine if they need to consult with their health care provider to lower their risk.Women account for almost half of all heart attack deaths. Women often do not believe they are as vulnerable to heart attacks as men but they are, and this is why women need to know the symptoms. Women usually delay seeking emergency treatment when they are having a heart attack because they do not beli...
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Recognizing Heart Disease Symptoms
2008-01-09 11:45:00
Heart disease is the number one cause of disease caused death in the United States today. The latest statistics show that of the 2.4 million people who die every year in the U.S. 36 percent of them died of some form of heart or cardiovascular disease. For many people heart disease sneaks up on them unawares and causes an unforeseen heart attack. Simply recognizing the symptoms of heart disease before a major medical emergency and seeking help can help reduce the risk of a life threatening event.So what are the heart disease symptoms you should be on the lookout for and what should you do if you start to experience them? The sort answer to the second part of that question is to see your doctor immediately. The sooner any form of this deadly condition is diagnosed and treated the better your chances of living a long and healthy life.Here are the symptoms everyone should be conscious of. And remember, each one taken by itself should indicate a potential problem but if there are combina...
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Preventing Congestive Heart Disease
2008-01-07 14:16:00
For most people who have it congestive heart disease is preventable or even reversible if caught early enough. Its causes and effects are directly related to lifestyle choices and in some cases to other underlying diseases that can cause it symptoms. Smoking, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, physical inactivity, metabolic syndrome, and diet are all risk factors for this most deadly of diseases.These risk factors can cause atherosclerosis, which are lesions in blood vessels. This can lead to arteriosclerosis, which is a thickening, hardening, and calcification of arterial walls leading to a decreased blood supply. This affects the ability of the heart to do its job in an efficient manner. These risk factors can also damage the heart, weakening the muscle itself.Preventing congestive heart disease is a matter of living a healthy lifestyle. By following some rather simple rules the majority of people can keep this disease from ever touching their lives. Here are some things to c...
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5 Congestive Heart Disease Beaters
2008-01-07 14:13:00
The most important thing to know about congestive heart disease is almost entirely preventable. Congestive heart disease results from a life of poor nutrition, insufficient exercise, smoking, and alcohol and drug abuse.All of those activities can result in a deterioration of the heart’s muscle fibers and their inability to contract strongly enough to send adequate blood supply to the rest of the body. The other organs, including the lungs, kidneys, liver, and brain all suffer when the heart cannot pump efficiently.How can one stay away from acquiring congestive heart disease?Are there steps you can take to avoid congestive heart failure? Yes, and they do not require any expensive medications. They simply require you to change the ways you eat move, and rest.Good Foods If You Want To Prevent Heart Disease :Eat oatmeal for breakfast. Even better, eat oatmeal with a side of blueberries for breakfast. Both oatmeal and blueberries have been show to be excellent cholesterol fighters--blu...
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Understanding Congenital Heart Disease
2008-01-04 11:31:00
Congenital heart disease is the form of heart disease that a person is born with. The affects of any form of heart disease can be deadly, but for the person with congenital defects making lifestyle change such as diet and exercise will not prevent or reverse the effects of their form of this disease. Getting diagnosed early in life is the best defense against this kind of heart condition.Congenital heart disease is an actual defect of the heart or large blood vessels that connect to the heart. This type of defect is something that people are born with. Other forms of heart disease form over time, and in most cases are caused by unhealthy diets and sedentary lifestyles. Most people are diagnosed with a congenital heart defect a week or two after they are born. Considering it is one of the most common birth defects all doctors are trained to recognize the signs and symptoms that a new born infant will present if they have this type of defect.For the unborn baby this type of defect is ...
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Risk Factors for Heart Disease Can be Controlled
2008-01-03 20:35:00
Many of the risk factors for heart disease are related to lifestyle and environmental factors and are typically labeled uncontrollable (non-modifiable) or controllable (modifiable). These can be conditions, personal traits and lifestyles that contribute to atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), which causes coronary artery disease.The seriousness of this disease can be seen in the fact that over 40% of all people in the United States who suffer a heart attack will die from its affects.Heart disease, which is a term that includes several more specific heart conditions, is the leading cause of death in the United States and is a major cause of disability. The major forms of this most deadly of diseases include acute rheumatic fever, chronic rheumatic heart disease, hypertensive heart disease, coronary heart disease, pulmonary heart disease, congestive heart failure and any other heart condition or disease.It is, in simplistic terms, the inability of the heart to pump or receive ...
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Staying On The Alert For Heart Disease Symptoms
2008-01-03 20:33:00
If you think you are at risk of developing coronary heart disease, the first thing you should do is schedule regular heart checkups. And you should do this even if you have not begun to experience any of the traditional heart disease symptoms, because it is not unheard of for a heart attack to occur without any heart disease symptoms at all.Major Heart Disease Symptoms But if you are wondering if any of the things you are feeling could be heart disease symptoms, the major signs of heart disease are angina and heart palpitations. Angina is named form the Latin word for chest pain, and if you experienced chest pain or tightness which seems to increase after you have been exercising, or if the pain radiates out from your chest into yurt neck, shoulder, jaw, and left arm you should talk to your doctor immediately. The heart disease symptom angina is often confused with an actual heart attack.Heart palpitations, another of the most common heart disease symptoms, are hard to ignore. Your ...
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Heart Disease Prevention - The Diabetes-Heart Disease Connection
2008-01-02 13:24:00
If you saw a tiger, you’d run for your life. But what if you didn’t see it? For those of you with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, heart disease is that unseen tiger. You’re two to four times more likely to develop a heart condition than people without diabetes? Even more shocking, those individuals are more likely to die from heart disease or other cardiovascular ills than from the complications of diabetes itself. Yet surveys show that 68 percent of Americans with diabetes are unaware of their increased cardiovascular risk.If you have diabetes, now is the time to take steps to protect your heart.“High blood glucose alters cell metabolism,” says Richard Kahn, Ph.D., chief scientific and medical officer of the American Diabetes Association (ADA). When the function of platelet cells changes, the likelihood of blood clots increases and the risk of heart attack rises. Cells that line the artery walls are also affected; the ability of blood vessels to dilate is impaired, which can l...
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