Monday, April 29, 2013

Treatment of Heart Disease

Treatment of Heart Disease
Treatment for heart disease depends on a series of factors. The treatments may include medication or a change in lifestyle. Change in lifestyle include following a heart-healthy diet, quitting smoking and exercising. These are critical to managing heart disease. There are some general guidelines that are prescribed to the patients for the prevention and Treatment of Heart Disease. The primary stages are: knowing the names, side effects and dosage of your medications and how also the way they work. You should also keep a track of the medicines taken every day. You should also keep a medicine calendar. You should not decrease your medication dosage to save money; consult your doctor brefore talikng drugs, such as antacids, salt substitutes, ot taking any over-the-counter drugs or herbal therapies unless you ask your doctor first, nonsteroidal or antihistamines, anti-inflammatory agents can worsen heart failure symptoms; before any surgery, telling the doctor or what medications you are taking.

ACE Inhibitors are medications that are used widely for the Treatment of Heart Disease. You can enlarge your blood vessels to improve the amount of blood your heart pumps and lower blood pressure. ACE inhibitors also increase blood flow and helps to decrease the quatity of work your heart has to do. You may be prescribed ACE inhibitors for the treatment of heart failure, high blood pressure, diabetes, myocardial infarction, heart disease prevention. Pregnant women are advised of not taking ACE inhibitors.

Antiarrhythmics are used for the Treatment of Heart Disease like abnormal heart rhythms. There are many types of antiarrhythmics, as well as other types of heart medications that can be used to treat arrhythmias, including Calcium channel blockers and Beta-blockers. As these medications do not cure arrhythmias,but control them, you may have to take these medicines for your whole life.

Antiplatelet Drugs prevent the formation of blood clots. Aspirin is the most common antiplatelet drug. Antiplatelets may be ordered for patients with coronary artery disease, angina, heart attack, stroke, peripheral artery disease.They may also be used after angioplasty, stent placement, transient ischemic attacks, heart bypass surgery, and to prevent the formation of blood clots in people with atrial fibrillation. There are also ceratin therapy that are used to improve the condition of the heart. They are not recommended for any particular disease but are simply used to improve its condition. Beta-Blocker is one such therapy.

This therapy decreases the production of harmful substances produced by the body in response to heart failure, improves the heart's ability to relax, and lowers down the heart rate. Calcium Channel Blockers affect the movement of calcium in the cells of the heart and blood vessels. Digoxin helps to strengthen the force of the heart muscle's contractions. It also slows down the heart rate, and also improves blood circulation. It is usually prescribed for the Treatment of critical Heart Disease like heart failure and atrial fibrillation.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Causes of Heart Disease

Causes of Heart Disease
Coronary artery disease, the most common form of cardiovascular disease, is one of the leading causes of death today. But thanks to many studies involving thousands of patients, researchers that have been able to shortlist certain factors that are the Causes of Heart Disease in a person. These are called risk factors. These risk factors contribute to two categories: major and contributing. The major Causes of Heart Disease are:

High Blood Pressure (Hypertension): High blood pressure increases your risk of heart disease, heart attack, and stroke. Though other risk factors can lead to high blood pressure, you can have it without having other risk factors. Blood pressure can vary with activity and with age. A healthy adult who is resting generally has a systolic pressure reading between 120 and 130 and a diastolic pressure reading between 80 and 90.

High Blood Cholesterol: this is another risk factor that causes of Heart Disease is high blood cholesterol. Cholesterol is a fat-like substance carried in your blood. This is found in all of your body cells. Your liver produces all of the cholesterol your body needs to form cell membranes and to make certain hormones. Extra cholesterol enters your body when you eat foods that come from animals

Diabetes: Heart problems are the leading cause of death among people with diabetes, especially in the case of adult-onset. If you know that you have diabetes, you should already be under a doctor's care, because good control of blood sugar levels can reduce your risk. If you think you may have diabetes but not sure, you must consult your doctor for tests.

Obesity and Overweight: Extra weight is thought to lead to increased total cholesterol levels. High blood pressure, increased risk of coronary artery disease. Obesity increases your chances of developing other risk factors for example, heart disease, especially high blood pressure, diabetes and high blood cholesterol.

Smoking: Most people realize that cigarette and tabacco smoking increases your risk of lung cancer, but fewer realize that it is one of the causes of Heart Disease and also other peripheral vascular disease.

Heredity: Heart disease tends to run in families. For example, if your siblings or parents had a heart or circulatory problem before the age of 55. But then you are at greater risk of heart disease than someone who does not have complains for heart disease in their family history.

Age: Older age is a risk factor for heart disease. In fact, about 4 out of every 5 deaths occur due to heart diseases that occur in people older than 65.

In addition to this, there are also certain contributing factor that enhances the causes of Heart Disease. They are: Stress, Sex hormones, Birth control pills and Alcohol. Stress is considered an important contributing risk factor for heart disease. The effects of behavior habits, emotional stress, and socioeconomic status on the risk of heart disease and heart attack have not been proven

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Coronary heart disease

Coronary heart disease
Coronary heart disease is also known by some other names such as coronary artery disease, ischemic heart disease and atherosclerotic heart disease. Among the various types of heart disease, Coronary heart disease is one of the most common one. It is caused when the atheromatous plaques are accumulated in the the artery walls. As a result of this accumulations atheromatous plaques , the supply of oxygen as well as the nutrients to the muscles of the heart is ceased.

The signs of coronary heart disease can easily be identified in the early stage. But the problems remain that in spite of the signs, no proof or evidence of coronary heart disease is found in its early stage. It therefore, very often results in heart attack all of a sudden. Coronary heart disease has been found to be one of the most common causes of heart or cardiac attacks, often leading to sudden death.

The records in the Guinness Book of Records reveal that Northern Ireland happens to be the most affected country by coronary heart disease, in comparison to the other countries in the world. One more interesting thing related to the coronary heart disease is that in the United State of America, one in every three women, aged 40 or above, and one in every two men, aged 40 and above, are found to be affected by coronary heart disease, either severely or mildly.

The risk factors related to coronary heart disease, are excessive smoking, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, type A behavioral patterns and hyperglycemia. There are also other risk factors of coronary heart disease. One of them is high levels of fibrinogen, also known as hemostatic factors. Hariditaru factors have also been found to be responsible for coronary heart disease.

There are some indirect risk factors of coronary heart disease. In spite of their being indirectly related to coronary heart disease, they prove to be very much significant. Some of such indirect, and yet, significant factors of coronary heart disease are obesity, lowness of diet in antioxidants, richly saturated fat diets, excess of stress and the absences or lack of physical exercise. Men who are aged over 60 and women who are aged more than 65 are very much prone to coronary heart disease. It is one of the commonest diseases in the Western countries.

Prevention of coronary heart disease is not very much unique. If the risk factors can be avoided, coronary heart disease can automatically be avoided. Keep your body in regular exercise. Do not grow the habit of smoking or consuming alcohols. Even if you have the habit, do try to give it up. Addiction to any kind of drugs will be most welcoming for the coronary heart disease. Always try to keep your mind calm and cool. A person with a routined life with less mental stress, is very hard to be affected by coronary heart disease.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Endocarditis

Endocarditis
Endocarditis is the inflammation inside the layer of the heart, known as the endocardium. The heart valves are the most common portions of the heart that is involved. The classification of endocarditis is done by infection or non-infection. The cause depends entirely on the microorganism that has caused the problem. The valves in the heart do not get any blood supply of their own due to which the defense mechanisms in the blood (such as white blood cells) cannot enter the heart. It so happens that if an organism (like bacteria) gets inside the valves of the heart, the body is unable to get rid of them. There are many kinds of heart diseases from which there are millions who suffer from. The types of heart diseases are such that they can create severe complications if it is neglected or diagnosed wrongly.

The flow of blood is normal through the valves inside the heart. Bacteria enter the heart when one has ailments like rheumatic fever and other such bacterial diseases. Infective endocarditis is divided into two forms known as acute and subacute. In the subacute version of endocarditis, patients tend to live longer than the acute ones. The classification of the disease can show the progression rate and intensity of endocarditis. Subacute bacterial endocarditis (SBE) is caused by streptococci of low virulence and illness. The illness can be mild and moderate along with slow progress over weeks or months. Acute bacterial endocarditis (ABE) is a fulminant illness that can be caused by the staphylococcus aureus that is of more intense disease causing factor. In infective endocarditis, there are two types known as culture positive and culture negative.

Culture-negative endocarditis is caused due to micro-organisms requiring longer time to be identified in the laboratory. Organisms of these kinds are termed as'fastidious' because they have certain requirements. Pathogens causing culture-negative endocarditis are Aspergillus species, Brucella species, Coxiella burnetii, Chlamydia species, and HACEK bacteria. There is marked difference between native-valve endocarditis and prosthetic-valve endocarditis. The identification of the two types is very important. Endocaditis can happen when an individual is injecting narcotics intravenously that enters the staphylococcus aureus in the heart. Those without intravenous experience, have endocarditis on the left side of the heart.

In endocarditis, the valves are damaged severely. The damage can be caused by congenital defects, auto-immune mechanisms, surgeries or by mere old age. The damaged valve has clots formed on it that in clinical term is known as non-bacterial thrombotic endocarditis (NBTE). When there is clot inside the valve of the heart, the bacteria present attaches itself with the clot thereby giving rise to infections inside it. Bacteremia that is the flowing of the bacteria with the blood stream from cut; can be caused by dental process like extraction of teeth or other procedures. Those suffering from heart diseases are first administered with medications in order to prevent any kind of bacterial infections that can lead to endocarditis. The bacteria that cause endocarditis can also enter the body by diseases like colorectal cancer, urinary tract infections and IV drug. Those using the IV drugs have the right side of their heart valves affected.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Types of Heart Disease

Heart disease has become a disease which is effecting maximum number of people. Heart disease effects the functions of the heart. Heart is the most important part of human body which pumps the blood to the blood cells. Inadequate supply of blood may to blood cells can lead to many complications. There are many types of heart disease and each type of heart disease effects the heart in one or another way. The death caused by heart disease has increased in the past few years. The new techniques of diagnosing the heart disease has helped in spreading the awareness about the disease. As the lifestyle of people is changing more and more people are becoming victim of heart disease. The types of heart disease are Coronary heart disease (CHD), Rheumatic heart disease, Heart rhythm disorders, High blood pressure, Hypertensive heart disease, Heart attack, Pulmonary heart disease, Ischemic heart disease, Heart murmurs and Tachycardia.

Types of Heart Disease
Coronary heart disease (CHD) is one of the types of heart disease. It is one of the common types of heart disease caused by inefficiency of blood supply. Most of the people suffer from this type of disease. The heart disease which is caused by the heart damage from rheumatic fever. There are many symptoms of Rheumatic heart disease and each symptom varies according to the heart damage. The heart rhythm disorder is also called as arrhythmia. It is the the disorder in the rhythm of heart. This heart disease can sometime be harmless and dangerous also. One of the common types of heart disease is the disease caused by high blood pressure. It is a disease which is effects maximum number of people. This heart disease is called hypertension. This type of heart disease has to be diagnosed properly to avoid further complications. It is also called as a silent killer. The blood pressure has to be constantly checked. High blood pressure can give arise to many problems. Headache, discomfort and tinnitus are some of the symptoms of blood pressure. Hypertensive heart disease is also a type of heart similar to the heart disease cause by high blood pressure. Symptoms of the hypertensive heart disease are shortness of breath, nausea, fatigue, irregular pulse and hypertension.

Heart attack is also one of the types of heart disease. It is very deadly and is causing maximum number of deaths. It is also called as cardiac arrest and the symptom of this disease is the chest pain. Emergency help is also required if the chest pain is too much. Sometime people mistake chest pain with common heart burn. Pulmonary heart disease is caused because of lung disorder. When the flow of blood to the lungs are blocked this causes lung pressure and eventually resulting in a heart disease. The common symptoms of this type of heart disease are syncope, shortness of breath, chest pain, dyspneea, etc. In heart murmur the heart beat of the heart sounds different from the normal beating. Tachycardia results from the fast and rapid heart beat.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Ischemic Cardiomyopathy

Ischemic Cardiomyopathy
Ischemic Cardiomyopathy is a common type of heart disease caused by the congestive heart failure due to coronary artery disease. There are many names given to this heart disease like Ischemic heart disease. This disease is one of the main causes of congestive heart failure. In United States maximum number of people suffer from this disease. This disease happens when the arteries are blocked and results in inadequate supply of blood to the oxygen. Ischemic cardiomyopathy when the cholesterol level of the body increases and create plaque in the arteries. Arteries are one of the major parts of the body which brings blood and oxygen to the body. The patients suffering from this disease can experience angina, heart attack and unstable angina. In many cases the symptoms are unnoticed which can be very dangerous in future. The reasons why this heart disease happens are obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, high fat diet, smoking, high blood pressure, etc. The symptoms of Ischemic Cardiomyopathy are breathing difficulty, decreased urine output, fatigue weakness, shortness of breath, irregular pulse, chest pain and cough.

If the patient is found with these symptoms then immediate check up is required. The patient should be frequently under medical supervision of the doctor. Tests must be done in every months to know about the status. Improper diet is also one of the main causes of ischemic cardiomyopathy. The patients of Ischemic cardiomyopathy are suggested to lay more emphasis on diet and exercise. Usually doctor perform many tests on the patients of ischemic cardiomyopathy. This disease is one of the types of cardiomyopathy. Cardiomyopathy is one of the types of heart disease in which the heart becomes enlarged and eventually results in the improper ability of muscles to pump the blood. Abnormalities in ischemic cardiomyopathy is common to see. The disease can be diagnosed physical exam and the patients medical history test. The tests done by the doctor include CT scan, radionuclide studies, cardiac catheterization, chest X-ray, MRI scan, blood tests, exercise stress test, electrocardiogram (ECG) and echocardiogram. ALL these tests are necessary to detect the risk and complications. These tests will help the doctor to see the depth of the disease. There are many medications available which will improve the heart conditions. But it is suggested to take the medications after the tests are done.

Medications for the patients of ischemic cardiomyopathy are given for two reasons to treat the symptoms and to improve the cardiac function. Whatever may be the medications and tests but if the patient improve his or her diet it can help to remove many symptoms and complications. Regular exercise and maintaining healthy diet is necessary to improve the heart condition. Some patients also undergo many therapies to improve the cardiac conditions. If the disease is extreme then emergency necessary must be done. The rate of heart patients is increasing with each year especially in developed countries. One of the main reasons for the increasing heart risk is the change in the lifestyle.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Hypertensive cardiomyopathy

Hypertensive Cardiomyopathy
Hypertensive cardiomyopathy is caused by the excess depression of the myocardial systolic function that in turn increases the stress on the wall of the heart. An individual can have heart failure after functions like ventricular dilatation and depressed systolic remains after the hypertension correction. There are many kinds of heart diseases in which cardiomyopathy is another type. There are many types of cardiomyopathy as well. Hypertension is the major cause of hypertensive cardiomyopathy, hence the name. According to the classification given by WHO/ISFC, hypertensive cardiomyopathy are anything under the category of dilated, unclassified and restrictive. Pathophysiologic of this type of cardiomyopathy is distinct. People who suffer from heart disease are kept under observation and restriction in order to keep them out of stress as much as possible.

Distinct pathophysiologic in hypertension in dilated cardiomyopathy happens from extreme pressure on the systolic wall. In the overloading of right and left ventricles of systolic pressure, there is varieties of phenotypic expression that is qualitatively. This can include the dilation and systolic dysfunction but there is no thickness of the heart wall. Concentric hypertrophy with or without systolic dysfunction and vice versa is seen in hypertensive cardiomyopathy. Local neurohormonal mechanisms contributes to pathophysiology of hypertensive cardiomyopathies. The prognosis of hypertensive cardiomyopathy is possible by the existence of comorbid conditions like diabetes mellitus and diseases like coronary artery. The control of afterload too is another prognosis of hypertensive cardiomyopathy.

Hypertensive cardiomyopathy has treatment similar to ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy. The only difference is that the afterload of this heart disease has to be controlled more intensely. Pure antihypertensive vasodilators like amlodipine or a-blocking agents are added to the therapies of heart failure. The symptoms of hypertensive cardiomyopathy are similar to many heart diseases. The symptoms are fatigue, dyspnea, shortness of breath, great need to urinate at night, irregular pulse, weight gain, difficulty sleeping flat in bed, swelling of feet and nausea.

Hypertensive heart disease can give rise to complications known as cardiac arrhythmias, left ventricular hypertrophy, congestive heart failure, coronary heart disease and hypertensive cardiomyopathy. The inflammation of the heart muscles weakens the ability of the heart to pump blood into the other parts of the body. This causes lack of oxygen in the body giving rise to fatigue and restlessness. High blood pressure makes the wall of the heart to be under too much stress. Those with heart defects like congenital disease and valve disease are affected by the hypertensive cardiomyopathy or dilated cardiomyopathy. Immediate attention should be paid to those suffering from this disease. Patients with this type of heart disease must be under constant observation and not be allowed to be very stressed out.

Heart diseases are at times hereditary. In these cases, patients should not be over excited or stressed out. This leads to the formation of excess blood pressure inside the heart and the walls are inflamed not being able to take the pressure. The valves and arteries inside the heart are unable to handle the pressure. The clots too should be removed in order to avoid heart complications. With care and proper medications, there is full scope of recovery.

Friday, April 5, 2013

Coronary Artery Disease

Coronary Artery Disease
The changing lifestyle of the people are increasing the risk of heart disease. In the past ten years the maximum death is caused by the heart disease. People suffer from various types of heart disease. One of the most common types of heart disease is Coronary Artery Disease. Most of the people in the world suffer from this disease. Any type of the heart disease can be dangerous to health. The heart disease must be diagnosed earlier in order to avoid the complications. As it is a type of cardiovascular disease special care must be paid to your diet and exercise. It is a disease of arteries. It is also called as CAD. It is said to be one of the main causes of heart attack. In coronary artery disease the blood flow is obstructed in the arteries causing heart attack. When the flow of blood is reduced in the arteries the heart muscles get damaged causing heart attack. It can also result in other heart problems like chest pain. In many cases the disease develops over year and only comes in notice when the patient suffers from heart attack. If the disease is diagnosed in early stage then it can be cured to certain extent thus reducing the complications.

If coronary artery disease becomes more complicated it can largely reduce the supply of oxygenated blood to the heart. The signs and symptoms of coronary artery disease are shortness of breath, chest pain and heart attack. Many people ignore shortnesses of breath but it can be dangerous causing heart attack. Shortness of breath is one o the main symptoms of coronary artery disease. Shortness of breath means the you cannot pump enough blood to the heart. This can also cause fatigue and swelling of arms and ankles. Chest pain is also a common symptom of coronary artery disease. The patient suffering from chest pain can experience heaviness in the chest or pressure in the chest. If the patient suffers from frequent chest pain then he or she must be diagnosed. Heart attack has become very common and maximum number of people are falling pray to it. The maximum number of death in the world is caused by heart attack. In many cases the heart attack happens suddenly without any symptoms and signs. The number of deaths caused by coronary disease is increasing with each year. In United States the disease affecting millions of people.

The complications in coronary artery disease give rise to heart attack, arrhythmia and angina pectoris. Coronary artery disease is the result of atherosclerosis. When a plaque is formed in the arteries it causes atherosclerosis. If the patient is getting early symptoms of coronary artery disease an immediate check up must be done to avoid further complications. If the disease is detected earlier it can reduce many risk. There are lot of tests and surgery done to treat the disease. Those suffering from the disease must put more emphasis on the diet.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Congenital Heart Disease

Congenital Heart Disease
Congenital heart disease is one of the types of heart disease. Congenital heart disease can be developed in a patient since birth that is why it is termed as congenital disease. It can be seen in children and adults. The improper formation of valves and heart muscle give rise to this type of heart disease. The other complications included in this type of disease is the holes in the heart and narrowing of the section of aorta. In most of the cases this disease is detected at the time of the birth while in other cases it comes to know in the later life. According to a research it is found that 1% of the infants are born with some heart problems. Doctors have found many conditions under which the baby is born with a congenital heart disease. Some of the conditions are consumption of alcohol during pregnancy, Congenital heart disease in the baby's mother or father, consumption of cocaine during pregnancy, diabetes in mother, etc. Sometimes the babies are born with heart defects without these conditions. One of the main reasons of heart problems is the improper diet and lack of exercise. In most of the cases the disease is detected in by the doctor at the time of the birth.

Children suffering from congenital heart disease must be given special care must continue with the medications prescribed by the doctor. Taking antibiotics is good which will protect the children from infective endocarditis. In many cases doctor suggest surgery to avoid further complications. There are many types of congenital heart diseases like Persistent truncus arteriosus, Patent ductus arteriosus, Ebstein's anomaly, Ventricular septal defect (VSD), Total anomalous pulmonary venous connection, Tetralogy of Fallot, Atrial septal defect (ASD), Pulmonary atresia, Pulmonary Stenosis, Hypoplastic left heart syndrome, Atrioventricular canal defect, Tricuspid atresia, Aortic Stenosis, Transposition of the great arteries and Coarctation of the aorta. According to a research it is found that eight in every thousand babies are born with heart problems. If the heart problem remains undetected in the early life it can give rise to many risk in future. These days doctors can even detect the heart problem in child before the baby is born. Here are some of the examples of congenital heart disease like abnormal connections between the vessels and chambers of the heart, narrowing of the artery of the body, failure caused by a blood channel, blockages in the pathways between the lung and heart, openings in the internal wall of the heart, narrowing of the heart valves, etc.

In congenital heart disease the blood is obstructed in the vessels of the heart problem sometime leading to heart attack. When the flow of blood is obstructed it puts strain on the patients heart. Sometimes the abnormal blood flow also happens when there is a hole in heart walls. An early diagnose is to be done if the baby is showing the symptoms of congenital heart disease. Diet should be improved to reduce the risk and complications.

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