The heart is an important muscular organ in our body that acts as a pump. It circulates the blood in your blood vessels and supplies oxygen to all other parts of your body. It takes responsible for waste removal from various organs. Heart disease or cardiovascular disease covers a range of diseases that affects your heart. It encompasses diseases with blood vessels, coronary artery, heart rhythm problems, heart attack, chest pain (angina), and stroke. Most of the above heart disease can be treated and prevented.
Various heart disease
Cardiovascular disease
The disease involved with blood vessels and arteries surrounding the heart is cardiovascular disease. Atherosclerosis is a condition when your blood vessels are accumulated by fatty substances called plaques. This condition thickens and narrows your artery walls sometimes forming a clot and blocks the vessels.
This can be treated with proper medications and changes in diets. The common symptoms are,
- Pain in your leg and also numbness
- Acute pain in the upper abdomen, jaw, throat, and neck
- Chest pain, chest stiffness, and pressure
It is not easy to diagnose cardiovascular disease unless you get heart attack, chest pain. So it is important to notify your doctor if you have ay frequent discomfort.
Arrhythmias
In this condition, you will have a fast or slow heartbeat which are mostly irregular. It is unlikely for a healthy person to get arrhythmia unless he/she has increased drug usage or had an electric shock that affects the impulses. But already a person with any other heart disease the electric impulse does not travel properly through the heart. The common causes of abnormal heart rhythms are,
- Congenital heart defect(born with heart problem or weakness)
- Over usage of prescribed drugs
- Smoking
- Blood pressure
- Diabetes
Symptoms include,
- Chest fluttering
- Racing heartbeat(speed will be high) / tachycardia
- Slow heartbeat/ bradycardia
- Chest pain
- Dizziness
- Trouble breathing
Congenital heart defect
It is mostly seen in children or newborn babies. Babies will have a change in blood flow after the heart structures when they are in the womb. This can be developed in adults as they age heart gets weak. A serious congenital defect can be diagnosed as soon as birth. Symptoms like,
- Pale or blue skin
- Swollen legs, abdomen and under eyes
- Breathing trouble during feeding
But in case of less severity, the symptoms emerge in childhood,
- Feeling exhausted and trouble breathing during activities
- Swelling of legs and hands
Heart infection
Endocarditis is a heart infection disease caused when some external irritants enter the heart muscle. Common irritants are virus, bacteria, and parasites. It usually affects the inner membrane that separates chambers and valves. Symptoms are,
- Fever
- Breathing trouble
- Skin rashes
- Persistent cough
- Extreme fatigue
- Change in heart rhythm
Valvular heart disease
In order to direct the blood flow with proper open and close, there are four valves present in your heart- the aortic, mitral, pulmonary, and tricuspid valve. When these valves are damaged you may have conditions like stenosis(vessel narrowing), Regurgitation(Leaking due to plaque)
Prolapse(problems in valve closing). You can have symptoms like
- Extreme fatigue
- Chest pain
- Breathing issues
- Fainting
All heart disease, when left untreated, can give you life-threatening complications like heart failure, heart attack, stroke, aneurysm. With proper medications, it is important to quit smoking and drinking and also follow a healthy lifestyle.