Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) – One Form Of Heart Disease

Coronary Artery Disease is the most common example of what heart disease is. It is the leading cause of heart attacks. This is caused by hardened and narrowed arteries, which makes the heart have to work much harder to move the blood around the body.

Coronary Artery Disease can also lead to other things, like angina. Angina is the chest pain or squeezing feeling that many people experience as a sign of heart attack. Usually it is in the chest, but it can also be in the shoulders, neck, jaw, back, or arms. It can mimic indigestion. Those who are at risk for heart attack need to be extra careful if they believe they are suffering from indigestion or an upset stomach. These symptoms of angina are classic examples of what heart disease is and how it can feel. Those who have angina are more likely to have a heart attack.

Heart attacks are another byproduct of coronary artery disease.  They happen when an artery is entirely or almost completely blocked and the heart is lacking sufficient blood for more than twenty minutes.

Heart Failure – Another Form Of What Heart Disease Is
If the heart can’t pump the blood around the body as well as it needs to, there can be heart failure. It isn’t that the heart has totally quit working – a common misconception – but it is that because the blood isn’t being transferred as it should be, other organs don’t get enough blood. Some symptoms include swelling in feet, legs, and ankles, shortness of breath, and extreme fatigue. If you have these symptoms, check with your doctor right away.
Heart Arrhythmias – An Important Form Of What Heart Disease Is To Know About
A heart arrhythmia is caused by changes in the heartbeat. Have you ever felt like you heart just skipped a beat, or fluttered, or just plain beat funny? This does not necessarily mean there is a problem. All of us, at some time, have feelings like this. There can be fatigue, or dizziness, or being out of breath – or even some chest pains. But if there are the flutters with other symptoms like shortness of breath or dizziness or extreme fatigue, it is important to call 911 immediately and get checked out by a medical professional.
Now that you know what heart disease is, learn how to prevent it through diet, exercise, and other means.

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With a name like “congenital”, you could be forgiven wondering if strange genitalia is what causes congenital heart disease.  You might even think that bad luck in the genetic lottery is what causes congenital heart disease.  Actually, we really don’t have a definite answer as to why some people get this disease and some don’t.  It is thought that about nine in every 1000 newborn babies are born with congenital heart disease.

What Is It?

Technically, congenital heart disease is a fancy name for a heart defect of the blood vessels. It is thought you develop these defects before birth.  Sometimes they can be detected before birth or right after birth, bit they also can be detected in childhood and in adulthood.  You can go for years without realizing you have congenital heart disease.  By the way, “congenital” means “present at birth” and has nothing to do with your genitals.

Risk Factors

Although we don’t know what causes congenital heart disease, we do know there are certain risk factors that can make one person more prone to getting this than others.  These factors include Down Syndrome; alcohol or drugs taken by your mother when she was pregnant with you or a bad infection like German measles your mother contracted during her first three months of carrying you in her womb.

This is one reason why it’s so important to get regular check ups all during your pregnancy if you suspect you are pregnant.  There are a lot of free to low cost medical programs in many countries to help pregnant women get their check ups and try to avoid getting an infection during pregnancy.  What causes congenital heart disease – whatever it is – seems to always happen during pregnancy.

Drugs – illegal or legal – also seem to play a big role in what causes congenital heart disease.  When a drug addict or alcoholic women gets pregnant, they need to stop their chemical diet but usually cannot.  There are also programs in the United States and Europe to help these women.  These women don’t get pregnant out of stupidity; they often have to become prostitutes in order to survive.

This is one argument as to why abortion should be kept legal.  In cases where the mother is a drug addict or alcoholic, the baby is given a bad prognosis of ever having a halfway decent life, physically or mentally.  Although abortion is considered a political debate and not a medical one, the future misery of the baby should be taken into consideration.

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Although there have been promising studies in the late 1990’s about taking Vitamin E as heart disease prevention, this has lead to some misleading conclusions.  The most important things in helping you prevent heart disease – or, reduce your chance of dying if you already have heart disease – is to eat a low-fat, balanced diet, exercise regularly and learn healthy ways to manage your stress.

Do of these things as well as take Vitamin E and heart disease will not hit you or will lessen your chances of getting a stroke or heart attack.  Vitamin E can help enhance your diet, exercise and stress management techniques, but it is not a substitution for them in any way.  There is no shortcut with heart health.

See Your Doctor

If you know you are overweight, are having troubles breathing and have close family members with heart disease, then you really need to pay attention to eating a sensible diet, exercising and handling your stress.  You will be more predisposed to getting heart disease or a stroke.  Heart disease does not go away on its own.  You need to see your doctor.

Also, don’t just start popping Vitamin E and hope heart disease will not bother you, even if you are exercising and eating a sensible diet.  Too much Vitamin E won’t do you any good.  It is best to talk to your doctor about taking a Vitamin E supplement BEFORE you go popping pills.  You might be eating enough Vitamin E in your diet.

Tuck In To Good Foods

Foods high in Vitamin E reduce heart disease risks, but also are full of other good things to help other parts of your body.  These foods include green leafy vegetables, vegetable oils and margarines made from vegetable oils, most nuts and wheat germ.  You can also take a supplement of 100 or 400 IU (International Units) if you can’t tolerate a lot of those foods.

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Types Of Heart Disease – A Quick Review

When most of us think of heart disease, the type we envision is Coronary Artery Disease (CAD). A major symptom of CAD is angina, which is a heaviness or squeezing in the chest, but can also be felt in other ways. It is easily mistaken for heartburn or indigestion. There are other symptoms that can also be related to CAD besides angina, including faster heartbeat, shortness of breath, and sweating.

Another type of heart disease is Myocardial Infarction (MI), commonly known as a Heart Attack. Symptoms are similar to those of CAD, but increase substantially. They can be mild, yet gradually increasing, and they last 30 minutes or more but are not relieved with medication or rest. Heart Attack symptoms should be treated immediately, by calling 911.

Some people have the type of heart disease that is called “Arrhythmia.” It is often accompanied by a feeling of palpitations in the heart area, or with weakness or fainting. One type of arrhythmia is called “Atrial Fibruillation,” or AF.

Heart Valve Disease manifests itself with shortness of breath, weakness, discomfort in the chest, particularly when going into cold air, heart palpitations, or dizziness. If allowed to cause heart failure, more symptoms follow: swelling in feet, abdomen, ankles, or belly, or a very quick weight gain. The amount of the symptoms does not directly correlate to the severity of the heart disease.

With full-on Heart Failure, the symptoms will be similar to the above, but also can include a cough with a white mucus. Nausea, swelling dizziness, fatigue, palpitations – all are also common if one has heart failure. Once again, the severity of the symptoms does not always match the severity of the heart disease.

Some babies are born with congenital heart defects. Many are diagnosed early on, but it is possible to not have any symptoms and only be diagnosed during an exam as an adult. Typical symptoms for these adults can include shortness of breath, limitations on the amount of exercise one is able to do, and other classic heart or valve failure symptoms. In children and babies, the symptoms can also include fast breathing, poor weight gain, cyanosis, and frequent lung infections.

If one has Cardiomyopathy (Heart Muscle Disease), there may be no symptoms at all. If symptoms do present themselves, they can come at any age and are similar to the other symptoms for heart related diseases, such as palpitations, swelling, and fainting. Some have arrhythmias as well.

Pericarditis is a type of heart disease that is different from CAD. It can give one a sharp chest pain, which can also go to the neck, arms, and back. It is worse while lying down, breathing deeply, or coughing or swallowing. It is better if sitting forward.

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Now, things are better. Researchers are well aware that a woman’s body is different than a man’s, and they recognize that studies will find other differences to diseases based on gender. Still, however, women make up only 25% of all participants in heart-related research studies.

When you take a look at the statistics about heart disease, you can find some interesting information, especially as it pertains to women.

How Prevalent Is Heart Disease Among Women?

What do the statistics show about heart disease among women? Studies show that there are currently about 8 million women who have heart disease. That breaks down to about 10% of women ages 45 – 64, and 25% of women 65 and older. Nearly 13% of the women that are 45 or older have already had a heart attack. 435,000 women have heart attacks each year, with the average age being 70 ½ years old.

How Dangerous Is It?

Heart disease kills 32% of American women, overall. Each year, 267,000 women die from heart attacks. Heart attacks kill six times more women than breast cancer.

Who Is Most At Risk?

There are some basic things that increase the risk of heart disease.  One is smoking. Women who smoke are at greater risk of heart attack 19 years earlier than non-smokers. Another is diabetes. Women with diabetes are more likely to have heart attacks as well – at a rate of 2-3 times more likely. High blood pressure, a contributing factor to heart disease is much more common in women on oral contraceptives. Obesity increases the risk of heart disease, and statistics about heart disease show that 23% of white women, 36% of Mexican American women, and 38% of black women are obese. Directly connected, women who are sedentary and get little or no substantial physical exercise are at much greater risk, and statistics about heart disease show that a high percentage of women in all racial groups are getting very little exercise. (49% Asian/Pacific Islanders, 57% blacks, 57% Hispanics, and 39% white women)

How Do Women Compare To Men?

Women are much more likely to die within a year of the first heart attack (38% vs. 25%). More women have another heart attack within six years (35% vs. 18%), and more women than men will be disabled by heart failure within six years (an astonishing 46% vs. 22%). Women are more than twice as likely to die after bypass surgery than men.

What Can We Learn From This?

Given the information we are learning from the statistics about heart disease, it is crucial that we study heart disease as it relates to women with a greater intensity and determination. Our future as a gender may depend on it.

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As far as smoking and heart disease is concerned, it goes without saying that cigarette smoking is one of the leading causes for heart attacks and strokes as well as a number of other secondary vascular diseases. It is thus a good idea to learn more about smoking and heart disease and probably the first thing that will strike you in this regard is the fact that tobacco has over four thousand chemicals in it and many of these are actually quite poisonous.

Nicotine Means Elevated Blood Pressure

Another fact worth learning about when it concerns smoking and heart disease is that nicotine will cause your blood pressure to rise since the carbon monoxide it contains helps to make hearts beat quicker and it also replaces oxygen in the smoker’s blood. Even worse, tobacco contains tar which is a leading cause of cancer that in turn is a fatal disease.

Thus, the picture with regard to smoking and heart disease is pretty clear and alarming as well, and it can easily be concluded that regular and sustained smoking is a major reason why arteries clog up and this only makes the heart work more than it should which in turn leads to heart diseases since the much needed oxygen that the heart requires does not reach it and therefore, the risk of blood clots forming increases manifold.

In fact, as far as smoking and heart disease goes, it has also been found that people that have smoked regularly and for long periods of time are seventy percent more at risk of dying as a result of coronary heart diseases as compared to those who do not smoke.

Another interesting fact related to smoking and heart disease is that it is believed that as many as eighty percent of first time smokers are in their youth and even passive smoking has been linked to heart diseases. Thus, when it concerns passive smoking and heart disease, even those who do not smoke directly are as much at risk of contracting heart diseases as are those who actually inhale cigarette smoke directly.

Furthermore, even if you are simply living with someone that smokes, your risk vis-à-vis smoking and heart disease increases by as many as thirty percent, and inhaling smoke is especially more dangerous for yet-to-be-born babies as well as little children and it can cause a number of unwanted health problems.

Thus, with all this information clearly showing the many risks associated with smoking and heart disease, it is time for you stop smoking if you want to live longer as well as healthier. If you don’t heed the warning, you can be sure that because of smoking, you risk curtailing your life on this planet, and whatever time you do spend among the living would be no better than a living hell.

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One thing seems clear. There are lifestyle changes that can help with reversing heart disease. Along with stopping smoking, exercising, and taking prescription medicine to help with cholesterol levels in the blood, there are basic changes one can make to fats in the diet that will have a positive impact, and help with reversing heart disease.

The Role Fats Play In Heart Disease

For most of us, we don’t pay any attention to what we eat. Our diets are full of things that are high in fats and cholesterol, and we neglect the valuable fruits and vegetables too much. We need to change these habits if we want to have our diet help us in reversing heart disease.

What are the dos and don’ts of eating when it comes to reversing heart disease? There are many pieces to this puzzle. One of the biggest puzzle pieces is about the fats in our diets. First, avoid saturated fats. Saturated fats are those pesky things that the body can turn into LDL cholesterol, which is the “bad cholesterol” that can clog the arteries. What is high in saturated fat? Read the labels on the packages for accurate information, but a quick guide to remember is that animal products are high in saturated fat – these include milk, cheese, and meats. Other things, like baked goods that use butter, cream, or cheese will also be high in saturated fats.

Another type of fat to be aware of are “trans fats.” These are found in fast foods (particularly fried foods), many cookies and snacks, and margarine. These also increase the LDL, which helps clog your heart. Not only that, but they also lower your HDL – which is the “good cholesterol,” the kind that helps to keep your arteries running clear. If you read the labels on the foods you eat, watch for “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil” – that means “trans fat.” Manufacturers must list trans fats on the labels of the products they sell.

Some kinds of fats are actually good for the body. These include monounsaturated fats. They are found in some nuts, canola oil, and olive oil. These reduce the LDL in the body and that helps with slowing heart disease. Also, polyunsaturated fats – which are in corn oil, soybean oil, and some margarines – are good in that they reduce LDL, but the rest of the cholesterol becomes more of a problem, so that’s the downside. Omega-3 fatty acids (in fatty fish like salmon, and in fish oil or flaxseed supplements) can lower cholesterol and be good for the heart.

There are other measures that can also be taken to help with reversing heart disease. Adding more fruits and vegetables into your diet will also help.

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Fewer Complications

Today, treatments targeting rehabilitation of rheumatic heart disease is a lot less complicated and even the treatments are simple and devoid of much complications. Thus, rehabilitation of rheumatic heart disease can be over in just two weeks, and as early as the second day following the rheumatic heart attack, the patient can be allowed to walk near about their bed and gradually the walks can be extended to as far as even five hundred yards.

In fact, today rehabilitation of rheumatic heart disease does not even require patients to take prolonged rest since it may lead to their becoming weak and they could also lose their strength as well as their efficacy. The only instance when rehabilitation of rheumatic heart disease requires a patient to take prolonged rest is when complications develop or when the condition is serious enough to warrant this kind of rest.

However, rehabilitation of rheumatic heart disease may also mean that patients need to exercise great caution before climbing stairs as it is recommended in the initial stages following a rheumatic heart attack to only climb stairs once in the week and the pulse rates during such climbs should not differ by more than twenty.

In fact, it is also recommended that rehabilitation of rheumatic heart disease involves encouraging the patient to resume their daily work and normal routine as early as possible following the rheumatic heart attack, or as soon as they are declared as being medically fit to do so. Some amount of light work is also recommended, and in some cases, the patient may even need to be given psychological help and doing some light and regular exercising is also part of rehabilitation of rheumatic heart disease.

To be sure, proper rehabilitation of rheumatic heart disease involves looking into all aspects of a patient’s welfare and it even includes their economic stage, and more importantly, the patient will only be rehabilitated satisfactorily provided he or she gets proper support from family and friends.

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Pulmonary heart disease, or cor pulmonale, is a term used to describe a change in the structure and function of the right ventricle of the heart as a result of a respiratory disorder.  This disease can develop very slowly and it may e years before one notices symptoms.   Most of the people with this disease are middle aged or older.   Pulmonary heart disease is a major cause of death and illness and is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S.   Unfortunately at this time there is no cure although efforts continue to minimize the effects of pulmonary heart disease.  The damage caused to your airways and lungs can not be reversed, but there are things you can do to help feel better and slow the damage.

This disease is not something you can catch from someone else, although other diseases can have a direct effect on how bad your pulmonary heart disease is.  The most common cause of this disease is smoking.  Pollution, chemicals, dust, or any other irritants that you are exposed to over a long period of time can cause pulmonary heart disease.

Basically what happens is that your air sacs in your lungs become damaged by the irritants you put in your body.  Where they used to be springy and resistant they now have become damaged and do not expand.  This causes your heart to work harder as less and less oxygen is being brought in.  By working harder it increases the chance that your heart will fail and also increases the stress on the muscle.

Treatment For Pulmonary Heart Disease

The first thing if you are smoking stop.  By continuing to smoke you will continue to cause more and more damage to your lungs resulting in eventually full blown pulmonary heart disease.  In addition to quitting smoking avoid doing things that would stress your lungs.  Working in dust filled and chemical environments will only increase the chance that you condition is going to get worse.

Also you need to try to loose weight if you are overweight to relieve the stress being placed on your heart.  A well balanced low fat diet will help to lower your weight and reduce the stress on your heart.  In addition exercise will help your lungs to recover somewhat and will also increase the stamina of your heart.

Take these simple steps and you should be able to mitigate as many of the symptoms of pulmonary heart disease as you can.

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As the old saying goes, “Where there’s life, there’s hope.”  This is especially true for people with heart disease.  Although getting the diagnosis makes you feel anything but hopeful, it is not a death sentence.  There are many treatment options and changes you can do in order to still have a good quality of life for many years yet to come.

Lifestyle Changes

Another old saying is, “Change is good for the soul.”  Although this writer is not an expert on souls, I do know that change is good for people with heart disease.  Even taking inexpensive steps like quitting smoking, exercising regularly and eating a better diet can help change the future prognosis for people with heart disease.

People with heart disease need to talk with their doctor and physical therapist (if one is involved) about developing a light exercise program that gradually gets more challenging.  Going from no exercise to running five miles a day will be just as dangerous as not exercising at all.  Slow and steady is the goal.  You should never exercise if your chest hurts. Walking your dog, gardening or pottery can all be exercises that help people with heart disease.

Keep Seeing Your Doctor

Heart disease does not reduce by itself, even if you suddenly quit smoking, quit drinking, become a vegetarian and work out a half hour a day.  You still need to see your doctor regularly.  If he or she recommend going to a specialist, if possible, go see a specialist.  Although lifestyle changes can help reduce your chance of suddenly dropping dead, you still need medications.

There are a dizzying amount of medications now available for people with heart disease.  Quite often, you are not on just one medication, but several.  Before you are given a prescription, you need to let your doctor or specialist know about all of the medications and herbal supplements you are currently taking.  This will help to avoid any bad interactions between your current drugs and herbal remedies and the new drugs.

Each person with heart disease reacts differently to any kind of medications.  This is one reason you need to keep your appointments to see your doctor or heart specialist.  They will need to monitor your body’s reactions to the drugs and to the dosage.  When you are on these medications, don’t suddenly decide to try an alternative medical remedy or even nutritional supplements like fish oil capsules.  You need to as your doctor first.

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