Heart Disease

How to Deal With Heart Disease

The term heart disease is a general term that refers to any disease or condition of the heart such as a heart attack or angina. It is also often used to refer to the condition know as coronary artery disease. Coronary artery disease occurs when plaques build up on the interior walls of the blood vessels that supply oxygenated blood to the heart. This build up causes clogging, which can lead to numerous heart problems ranging from chest pain to heart failure to heart attack. Congenital heart disease is brought on primarily by smoking, sedentary lifestyles, diabetes, hypertension, high levels of cholesterol in the blood, and genetic predisposition to the disease.

Symptoms of Heart Disease

There are no symptoms in the early stages of heart disease. The first detectable symptom is either angina or heart attack. Angina, or chest pain, is typically brought on by exertion and alleviated by rest. Angina, though not necessarily a heart attack, is characterized by a dull ache in the center of the chest, or a feeling of pressure that spreads up to the neck, and down the arms. The symptoms of heart attack include intense chest pain, sudden cold, sweating, weakness, and nausea. Clinical history and physical examination are the basis for diagnosing heart disease. Electrocardiography, and the measurement of certain enzymes in the blood are used to confirm the condition of heart disease. In electrocardiography, heart activity is monitored when electrodes are connected to the chest. Levels of certain enzymes are measured, since their released into the blood is characteristic of damaged muscle tissue. Angiography is also used in diagnosis, and involves injecting dye into the arteries, and following blood flow through the heart using x-ray.

Heart Disease Treatment

Treatment of heart disease includes balloon angioplasty, bypass graft surgery, and pace makers. Balloon angioplasty is a non-surgical procedure used to expand narrowed coronary arteries. A doctor first inserts a thin plastic tube into an artery in your arm or leg, guiding it to the aorta, until it passes into the coronary arteries. The procedure is monitored by a special camera called a fluoroscope, and once the catheter passes through the narrowed coronary artery, a smaller catheter, with a balloon on its tip, then passes through the first catheter. Once the balloon tip reaches the narrowed part of the coronary artery, it is inflated, compressing the plaque and enlarging the diameter of the blood vessel. The balloon is then deflated, and the catheters are withdrawn. In bypass graft surgery cardiac surgeons remove part of a blood vessel from elsewhere in the body, and attach it to a narrowed or blocked coronary artery. This allows the muscle ordinarily supplied by the vessel to be nourished again. This procedure provides dramatic relief. Pacemakers function to maintain a minimum safe heart rate, by delivering appropriately timed electrical impulses to the pumping chambers of the heart, replacing the heart's normal rhythmic pulses. There are also several medications used to in the treatment of heart disease include beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, nitrate based vasodilators, diuretics, ACE inhibitors, angiotensin-2 (AT-2) receptor antagonists, statins, and ezetimibe. Beta-blockers, a common heart disease medication, lower blood pressure by reducing the amount of blood pumped by the heart, and reduce the risk of additional heart attacks in patients who have already suffered one. Calcium channel blockers, lower blood pressure by relaxing blood vessel walls. Nitrate based vasodilators relax blood vessel walls as well. Diuretics expel excess fluids and sodium through urination, and in turn lower blood pressure. Diuretics are can work very successfully in combination with other blood pressure medications, enhancing their effects. ACE inhibitors decrease resistance in blood vessels by expanding them, allowing blood to flow more easily, and decreasing the heart’s workload. Angiotensin-2 (AT-2) receptor antagonists have similar effects. Statins effectively lower bad cholesterol levels, and are sometimes used in conjunction with ezetimibe.