Heart Diseases starting with A

Cardiovascular disease is not a single ailment, as it is a disorder/s that relates to all of the heart and circulatory system. Heart disease can refer to damage in the heart's lining, valves, muscle, arteries, or electrical system. A person can often suffer from several types of cardiovascular (heart) disorders at the same time. Or there may be several different problems related to a single underlying cause. 

A person can be born with a diseased heart, or develop heart disease. Some risk factors leading to heart disease are controllable such as smoking, poor diet and lack of exercise. Other risk factors are not controllable such as a persons age, gender and ethnicity.

Healthy arteries are flexible and like elastic. An aneurysm is where the hearts artery loses its elasticity. Instead of keeping its smooth cylindrical shape, the artery may develop a bulge. Having lost its elasticity and strength the damaged artery may rupture. It is like when a balloon explodes after someone puts in too much air. 

Angina is a symptom of myocardial ischemia, usually caused by coronary atherosclerosis. Patients will feel chest pressure and acute shortness of breath.

Arrhythmia is any deviation from or disturbance of a normal hearts rhythm. The basic rhythm of the heart is a regulated process designed to insure efficiency and optimal 

performance. It is a dynamic process that changes according to the metabolic needs of the body. The cardiac rhythm involves several different small and large structures within the normal heart.

Atherosclerosis is also known as "hardening of the arteries". It is caused by the gradual buildup of fats, cholesterol and other materials in the arteries. This build up causes the artery to narrow and become less flexible. Arteries loose elasticity as a natural part of the aging process. However, poor diet and smoking speed up this process. 

Living with heart Arrhythmias

Heart disease is a term that applies to a large number of medical conditions relating to the heart. These medical conditions relate to the abnormal health conditions that directly affect the heart and all its components. Heart disease is a major health problem within some cultures.

One theory for heart disease is the radical changes within our lifestyles. People are often less active and eat diets high in fats. Takeaway food is abundant today and often people will eat it due to the increased availability. Some takeaway outlets are now helping cater to a healthier lifestyle by offering a variety of healthy dishes such as salads. People are becoming more aware of the risk of heart disease and choosing to change their diets.

Exercise is extremely important in order to avoid heart disease. Exercise helps to keep the heart in peak performance. By using a combination of exercise and a balanced diet, the risk of heart disease is greatly decreased.

Most arrhythmias (abnormal heartbeats) neither cause symptoms nor interfere with the heart's ability to pump blood. Thus, they usually pose little or no risk. They can cause considerable anxiety if a person becomes aware of them. There are some arrhythmias, harmless in themselves that can lead to more serious arrhythmias.

Any arrhythmia that impairs the heart's ability to pump blood adequately is serious. How serious, depends in part on where the arrhythmia originates. Is it in the heart's normal pacemaker, in the atria, or in the ventricles? Generally, arrhythmias which originate in the ventricles are more serious than those that originate in the atria. These are more serious than those that originate in the pacemaker. However, there are many exceptions.

For people who have a harmless, yet worrisome arrhythmia, reassurance that the arrhythmia is harmless may be treatment enough. Sometimes arrhythmias occur less often or even stop, when doctors change a person's drugs or adjust the dosages. Avoiding alcohol, caffeine, smoking, or strenuous exercise can also help.

Heart arrhythmia and palpitations

Heart disease is a term that applies to a large number of medical conditions relating to the heart. These medical conditions relate to the abnormal health conditions that directly affect the heart and all its components. Heart disease is a major health problem within some cultures.

One theory for heart disease is the radical changes within our lifestyles. People are often less active and eat diets high in fats. Takeaway food is abundant today and often people will eat it due to the increased availability. Some takeaway outlets are now helping cater to a healthier lifestyle by offering a variety of healthy dishes such as salads. People are becoming more aware of the risk of heart disease and choosing to change their diets.

Exercise is extremely important in order to avoid heart disease. Exercise helps to keep the heart in peak performance. By using a combination of exercise and a balanced diet, the risk of heart disease is greatly decreased.

Some people who have abnormal heartbeats may not even be aware of them. Awareness of heartbeats (called palpitations) varies widely among people. Some people can feel normal heartbeats, and most people can feel heartbeats when they lie on their left side.

Arrhythmias have consequences that range from harmless to life threatening. The seriousness of an arrhythmia may not be closely linked with the severity of the symptoms it causes. Often, the nature and severity of the underlying heart disease are more important than the arrhythmia itself. Some life-threatening arrhythmias cause no symptoms. Otherwise inconsequential arrhythmias can cause severe symptoms. 

When arrhythmias impair the person’s heart's ability to pump blood, they can produce weakness, a reduced capacity for exercise, light-headedness, dizziness, and fainting. Fainting occurs when the heart is pumping so inefficiently, it can no longer maintain enough blood pressure. If such an arrhythmia persists, death may be a direct result. 

Arrhythmias may also aggravate the symptoms of underlying heart disease, including chest pain and shortness of breath. Arrhythmias that produce symptoms require prompt attention.

Death by Cardiac Arrest

Sudden cardiac death (sudden arrest) is death resulting from a sudden heart attack (cardiac arrest). The victim may or may not have diagnosed heart disease. The time and mode of death are unexpected. It occurs within moments after symptoms appear. The most common reason for patients to die suddenly from cardiac arrest is coronary heart disease (fatty buildups in the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle)

All known heart diseases can lead to cardiac arrest or sudden cardiac death. Most of the cardiac arrests that lead to sudden death occur when the electrical impulses in the diseased heart become rapid (ventricular tachycardia), chaotic (ventricular fibrillation) or both. This irregular heart rhythm (arrhythmia) causes the heart to suddenly stop beating. Some cardiac arrests are due to extreme slowing of the heart. This is called bradycardia. Bradycardia is common in premature infants.

A large percentage of adult victims of sudden cardiac death, two or more major coronary arteries are narrowed by fatty buildups. Scarring from a prior heart attack is found in two-thirds of victims. When sudden death occurs in young adults, other heart abnormalities are more likely causes. Adrenaline released during intense physical or athletic activity often acts as a trigger for sudden death when these abnormalities are present. Under certain conditions, various heart medications and other drugs — as well as illegal drug abuse — can lead to abnormal heart rhythms that cause sudden death.

The term "massive heart attack" is often wrongly used in the media to describe sudden death. The term "heart attack" refers to death of heart muscle tissue due to the loss of blood supply, not necessarily resulting in a cardiac arrest or the death of the heart attack victim. A heart attack may cause cardiac arrest and sudden cardiac death, but the terms aren't synonymous.

Ischemic Cardiomyopathy

There are various types of Cardiomyopathy. Cardiomyopathy is when the heart’s tissues or muscles become diseased and don’t function properly. Heart disease is a huge health problem affecting both rich and poor nations.

Ischemic cardiomyopathy is a weakness in the muscle of the heart. This is due to inadequate oxygen delivery to the myocardium with coronary artery disease being the most common cause.

Anemia and sleep apnea are relatively common conditions that can contribute to ischemic myocardium. Hyperthyroidism can cause a 'relative' ischemia secondary to high output heart failure. Hyperthyroidism is the medical term used to describe the signs and symptoms associated with an over production of thyroid hormone.

Individuals with ischemic cardiomyopathy typically have a history of heart attacks (myocardial infarction). Longstanding ischemia can cause enough damage to the hearts muscles and tissues with out other health conditions contributing. A Heart Attack is when an area of the heart muscle does not get enough blood, chest pain or discomfort, called angina develops.

In a typical presentation, the area of the heart affected by a myocardial infarction will initially become dead tissue, and will then be replaced by scar tissue, becoming fibrotic. Fibrosis is the formation or development of excess fibrous connective tissue in an organ. 

This fibrotic tissue is akinetic, meaning it is no longer muscle and cannot contribute to the heart's function as a pump. If the akinetic region of the heart is substantial (large) enough, then the affected side of the heart (such as the left or right side) will go into heart failure. This failure is the functional result of an ischemic cardiomyopathy.

Heart Failure is when your heart muscle doesn't pump as much blood as the body needs. Failure doesn't mean that the heart has stopped pumping but that it is failing to pump as effectively as it should.

How is vulnerable plaque detected?

Patients with this kind of plaque may not feel any symptoms. In the early stages of the process, the change in blood flow may not be detected with standard testing. Researchers are looking at unique scanning techniques that might highlight the presence of vulnerable plaque.

Cardiologists have found that by measuring the level of a substance called C-reactive protein in the bloodstream, they can predict a person's risk of heart attack or stroke. C-reactive protein is a marker that doctors use to measure inflammation activity in the body. Two large studies showed that the higher the C-reactive protein levels in the blood, the greater the risk of a heart attack.

Not all vulnerable plaque ruptures, and researchers are looking at ways to determine which vulnerable plaques are most likely to rupture. They found that the warmer the plaque, the more likely it will crack or rupture.

Patients can lower their C-reactive protein levels in the same ways they can cut their heart attack risk (healthier lifestyles). Doctors can check the C-reactive protein levels with a blood test, and many doctors are adding the test to their patients' cholesterol screening.

Recent studies show smoking is very dangerous for people who have vulnerable plaque in their arteries. The nicotine in cigarettes directly affects the inflammatory response, causing the release of more cytokines. Researchers are also studying how family history and genes factor into the inflammation process.

Medicines used for treating high blood pressure and aspirin, appear to reduce inflammation in the body, that might prevent heart attacks in people who already have high C-reactive protein levels.

Cholesterol lowering medicines called statins have been found to lower C-reactive protein levels. Doctors are now looking at how these medicines may be used to prevent heart attacks in people with normal cholesterol levels. Doctors are still studying the use of cholesterol-lowering medicines for this purpose.

Heart disease in Asia

Until recently, heart disease was uncommon in Asian populations. Results from a new study of more than half a million Asians indicate that a large epidemic of heart disease is poised to affect China and many other countries in the region.

The study, conducted by professional through China to Australasia, has provided important new evidence. The evidence points to rapidly increased smoking and other health factors that contribute to heart disease. These include diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, particularly in the more urbanized regions of Asia. The results have indicated that unless some drastic changes are made, Asia may be faced with a crippling epidemic of Heart Disease.

Results show that in the next twenty years Asia will be faced with a crippling epidemic of heart disease and stroke on a scale previously unknown.

Te heart is the center of the body’s cardiovascular system. Throughout the body's blood vessels, the heart pumps blood to all of the body's cells. The blood carries oxygen, which the cells need. Heart disease is a group of medical problems that occur when the heart and blood vessels aren't working the way they should.

"Many of the victims will be in the prime of their working lives, since heart disease strikes at a much younger age in Asia than in the West.

"The cost of heart disease in countries such as China will be vast. Not only will there be huge expenses associated with the treatment of heart attacks, but the loss of earnings for victims and their families will have devastating economic consequences.

Many people do not realize they have cardiovascular disease. Often it isn’t known until they have a chest pain, a heart attack, or stroke. These kinds of problems often need immediate attention and the person may need to go to the emergency department of a hospital for an assessment.