Heart Disease The #1 Killer in The World

The risk of coronary heart disease can be reduced by taking a number of steps to prevent and to control the adverse factors that put specific people at greater risk for heart disease and heart attack. Knowing the signs and symptoms of a heart attack, calling 911 immediately, and getting to a hospital as soon as possible are crucial to getting a positive outcome after a heart attack. It is also possible for people who have already had one heart attack to work to reduce the risk of future heart events.

People suffering from heart diseases are being treated with various heart surgery techniques. When treatments by medicines, changing lifestyle and various medical procedures fail to work, then heart surgery is the last option. Heart surgery involves treatment of coronary artery disease and cardiovascular attacks. It is also used to replace damaged heart with the healthy one as well as to fix the heart valves for the proper regulation of your heart-beat.

Causes of Heart Diseases

There are many causes of heart diseases. Most of heart diseases are caused by high blood pressure contributes to hardening of the arteries. High levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) build up in the arteries as a result of uncontrolled diet with high levels of saturated fat and trans fat. All these add to the formation of atherosclerosis lesions and eventually arterial blockage or anything that serves to damage the inner lining of blood vessels and impedes the transportation of oxygen and nutrition to the heart can be defined as a risk of heart disease.

Symptoms

Chest pain

Chest pain is caused by blood vessels in the heart temporarily being blocked up. It is also caused by inadequate oxygen supply to the heart muscle or coronary . The persistence of chest pain would be an early indication of heart diseases.

Dizziness

Dizziness can have many causes including low blood count, low iron in the blood stream and other blood disorders, dehydration, and viral illnesses. Since there are many different conditions that can produce these symptoms, anybody experiencing episodes of severe headaches or dizziness ought to be checked by your doctor.

Heart Diseases Prevention

Having high blood pressure is usually attributed to the kind of food being consumed by the person. It is best then to add some fruits, vegetables and whole grains to the diet to balance out the oils and fats usually found in meat.

Exercise can also prevent heart diseases. The person doesn’t have to enroll in a gym but take an occasional stroll or engage in a sport with friends. This will help the individual burn excess calories and keep the heart pumping.

Treatment for different forms of cardiovascular disease depends upon the symptoms shown in patients. Still effective treatment for this disease always includes changes in lifestyle. However, it is important that before taking any medicines first consult an expert cardiologist and have complete diagnosis of disease. It will help you in taking right treatment without introducing any harm to your body. Depending on your condition, your cardiologist might suggest you surgery to reopen or repair damaged blood vessels.



By: peterhutch

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Many of us know what cholesterol and heart disease are. What most of us don’t know is that there are arguments whether cholesterol is the main cause of heart disease. Some experts say that cholesterol is one of the main cause of heart disease while there are others who think otherwise.

Experts from the Framingham Heart Study have determined that high blood cholesterol is one of the factors for a coronary heart disease or CHD. The result of their study showed that the ones who have a higher cholesterol level is the most likely he will have a coronary heart disease or CHD. Coronary heart disease is unusual at low cholesterol levels. A connection between high blood cholesterol and heart disease was also confirmed by another group of experts. Their studies showed that lowering the total LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) levels drastically reduces coronary heart disease. Recently, a series of trials of cholesterol using statin drugs showed that lowering the total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol greatly reduces the chance of experiencing a heart attack, angioplasty (a bypass that requires surgery) and dying of coronary heart disease-related causes.

What are the risk factors that increases the risk of developing heart disease? The risk factors are the condition that one has. Even though some risk factors can be modified some risk factor can not be changed. All in all, the more risk factor that you have the more chances you will be experiencing a heart disease. Here are some of the risk factor that can not be modified:

* Age (55 and above for female while 45 and above for male)

* Family history (parents or sibling who died of a heart disease at the age stated above)

Here are some known risk factors that one can change:

* High total cholesterol and high LDL (bad) cholesterol

* Low HDL (good) cholesterol

* Smoking

* High blood pressure

* Diabetes ( the risk of developing a heart disease is high if you are diabetic)

* Physical inactivity

* Obesity or overweight

It is advisable to go to a physician if you are not sure if you have a high blood cholesterol.

Although some expert agree that the high blood cholesterol and heart disease is somewhat connected; there are also a few expert who tend to disagree that too much animal fat or high cholesterol and heart disease go together. They argued that there is no such thing as “bad” or “good” cholesterol. They believe that mental stress, physical activity and change of body weight may influence the level of the blood cholesterol and that a high blood cholesterol is not dangerous but only reflects an unhealthy condition. There lots of factors that some experts disagree with each other. Whatever causes of high cholesterol and heart disease are. The only sure thing is… to live a healthy life.



By: T J Madigan

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As we mentioned in the previous articles, heart diseases are caused by high blood pressure that contributes to the hardening of the arteries. High levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) build up in the arteries as a result of uncontrolled diet with high levels of saturated fat and trans fat.

Heart diseases affecting heart valves occur when the mitral valve in the heart narrows, causing the heart to work harder to pump blood from the left atrium into the ventricle.

Here are some types of heart disease affecting heart valves:

1. Mitral Stenosis

Mitral Stenosis is a heart valve disorder that involves a narrowing or blockage of the opening of the mitral valve causing the volume and pressure of blood in the left atrium increases.

2. Mitral valves regurgitation

Mitral regurgitation is the heart disease in which your heart’s mitral valve doesn’t close tightly causing the blood to be unable to move through the heart efficiently. Symptoms of mitral valve regurgitation are fatigue and shortness of breath.

3. Mitral valves prolapse

In mitral valve prolapse, one or both leaflets of the valve are too large resulting in uneven closure of the valve during each heartbeat. Symptoms of mitral valves prolapse are palpitation, shortness of breath, dizzy, fatigue and chest pains.

4. Aortic Stenosis

With aging, protein collagen of the valve leaflets are destroyed and calcium is deposited on the leaflets causing scarring, thickening, and stenosis of the valve therefore increasing the wear and tear on the valve leaflets resulting in the symptoms and heart problems of aortic stenosis.

5. Aortic regurgitation

Aortic regurgitation is the leaking of the aortic valve of the heart that causes blood to flow in the reverse direction during ventricular diastole, from the aorta into the left ventricle. Symptoms of aortic regurgitation include fatigue or weakness, shortness of breath, chest pain, palpitation and irregular heart beats.

6. Tricuspid stenosis

Tricuspid stenosis is the narrowing of the orifice of the tricuspid valve of the heart causing increased resistance to blood flow through the valve. Symptoms of tricuspid stenosis include fatigue, enlarged liver, abdominal swelling, neck discomfort and leg and ankle swelling.

7. Tricuspid regurgitation.

Tricuspid regurgitation is the failure of the right ventricular causing blood to leak back through the tricuspid valve from the right ventricle into the right atrium of the heart. Symptoms of tricuspid regurgitation include leg and ankle swelling and swelling in the abdomen.

I hope the above information will help you to understand heart diseases better. If you would like to read more of the above subject, please visit my home page at:

http://medicaladvisorjournals.blogspot.com

http://heartdiseasespartv.blogspot.com/



By: Kyle J. Norton

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If both of your parents and your grandparents suffered from hear disease then you may think you are also doomed to suffer from heart disease. There is good news, heredity can be a cause of heart disease, it is but one factor among may factors that must be taken into account when assessing your risk for heart disease. One recent study found that heredity accounts for less than 10 percent of a person’s risk for developing heart disease.

That leaves the other 90 percent of the heart disease causing factors that you may be able to do something about. If you are at risk because of heredity factor then modifying your life style and taking certain precautions could substantially reduce your risk of developing heart disease.

Doctors cannot agree on the number one cause of heart disease, so you will have to evaluate the evidence yourself and determine your own risk/reward ratio. Smoking, obesity, and high cholesterol are usually in the forefront of any study.

The chemicals in cigarettes can damage artery walls, thereby making it easier for cholesterol deposits to build blood-blocking deposits on the artery walls. Smoking also makes platelets, the component of blood that causes clotting and carries oxygen, to be more active, thus increasing the risks of blood clots that cause heart attacks and storks.

A body needs cholesterol and can actually produce all it needs, so when we ingest foods high in cholesterols, like dairy and meat products, our bodies get a lot more cholesterol than they need. The body saves cholesterol instead of excreting it, and that cholesterol gets stored along the walls of the arteries. Too many cholesterol deposits lead to artery blockage and clots.

Having a large numbers of large HDL particles correlates with better health and it is commonly called “good cholesterol”. Having a large number of LDL particles in the blood is commonly called “bad cholesterol”. However, as today’s testing methods determine LDL (”bad”) and HDL (”good”) cholesterol separately, this simplistic view has become somewhat outdated.

High blood pressure is also thought to be a major cause of heart disease. Give this a try. Plug you nose and breath through you mouth. No problem right? Now put something about the size of a garden hose in you mount and breath through that. It is harder to get enough oxygen but it is still not unreasonable. Not try breathing through a straw. You will not be able to do this for every long before you have to give up.

Your arteries are narrowed because of all that cholesterol stored on the walls of the arteries. But your body needs the same amount of oxygen that is supplied by the blood that is always has. Your heart has to pump harder and faster to give the body what it needs. As you arteries become narrower and narrower your heat has to work harder and harder. Sooner or later something has got to give.

Obesity is another factor that can cause heart disease. Often obesity comes with high cholesterol and high blood pressure, which can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. Since there are more areas that need blood because of the increased size of someone suffering from obesity the heart must work harder to supply the needs of the body.

Stress is also associated with heart disease. But unless your parents are stressing you out enough to cause a heart attack, they are not the cause of heart disease.

Common Vitamins and over the counter products can help with Heart Disease such as Vitamin C, Lecithin, Pectin, Garlic, EPA, Niacin and Phytosterols.

Vitamin C has been shown to combat the development of cholesterol deposits in the arteries. Within a few hours after receiving vitamin C patients showed a sharp decline in the cholesterol levels of the blood.

Lecithin has the potential to protect against fat clogged arteries when take daily.

Pectin limits the amount of cholesterol the body can absorb. High pectin count in apples may be why “One a day keeps the doctor away”.

Garlic counteracts the usual result of high fats in the diet and to help reduce high blood pressure.

Studies of the Greenland Eskimos lack of heart attacks have show that Eico-Sapentaenoic Acid (EPA) lowers blood cholesterol considerably, even more than polyunsaturated fat does. It also triggers a major drop in triglycerides. Salmon Oil is one of the best-known sources of natural EPA.

Niacin is the closest thing available to a perfect treatment that corrects most causes of coronary heart disease. Niacin blocks the release of fatty acids from fat cells. Niacin plays a critical role in energy production, gene expression, and hormone synthesis. You cannot live without it. Niacin also tends to shift LDL particle distribution to larger particle size and improve HDL functioning. The intake of 3 grams Niacin for as little as two weeks can reduce serum cholesterol by 26 percent.

Phytosterols is found in flax seed and peanuts, which are suggested to help lower serum cholesterol.

If you are at risk of developing heart disease then find a good health care professional prior to starting any type of home treatment.

Always consult your doctor before using this information.

This Article is nutritional in nature and is not to be construed as medical advice.



By: David Cowley

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Ischemic heart disease occurs when there is a partial blockage of blood flow to the heart. When the heart does not get enough blood it has to work harder and it becomes starved for oxygen. If the blood flow is completely blocked then a myocardial infarction (heart attack) occurs.

As we age we naturally have plaques build up in our arteries. This is called arteriosclerosis which is a hardening of the arteries. This can lead to blood clots that can cause a heart attack or stroke. Hardening of the arteries and blockage of major arteries is one of the leading causes of death by disease in the United States. In fact heart disease itself kills more people every year then the next 6 diseases combined.

The degree to which ischemic heart disease affects each individual depends on a variety of factors including age, genetics, diet and exercise habits, and smoking. For many people who are at high risk it is important to make certain lifestyle changes that will reduce this risk.

Since medical science and doctors know the causes of ischemic heart disease they also know the steps to take to prevent or reverse its effects. And the steps one can take to avoid its effects are actually quite simple. Eat a healthy diet and avoid foods high in saturated fat, get more regular exercise to strengthen the cardiovascular system, drink alcohol in moderation, and stop smoking. By making these types of simple lifestyle changes you can avoid and prevent the onset of this disease.

Saturated fats are one of the leading causes of plaque build up in the arteries. By avoiding fatty foods that contain these types of fats you can significantly reduce your risk of heart disease. In fact if you eat more fish that are high in omega 3 fatty acids you can significantly reduce the build up of plaques. Omega 3 help build up the good cholesterol called HDL which helps remove the bad cholesterol (LDL).

Exercise will significantly reduce the risk of ischemic heart disease by helping the body effectively remove excess body fat and reduce the risk posed by obesity. Any form of exercise, whether its daily walks, working around the yard, or a full on exercise program will work wonders when it comes to preventing this condition.

Just a few changes can make all the difference in the world when it comes to fighting and preventing ischemic heart disease.



By: Andrew Bicknell

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