All You Need to Know about Heart Disease
Heart disease is a type of cardiovascular disorder that covers the deformities or issues related to the heart. It is the leading cause of death in many countries. The problems related to the heart can be congenital or caused by an unhealthy lifestyle. It has various forms and can be treated by maintaining a healthy lifestyle, medications, and surgery.1 The following sections provide an overview of the the various forms of this disease, their symptoms, treatment, and preventive methods.
Types of Heart Disease 1,2
1) Congenital heart disease
These deformities are present in the heart since birth. These are of 3 types: 2
- Septal defects: This refers to a hole in the chambers of the heart.
- Obstruction defects: This happens when blood flow between chambers of the heart is blocked since birth
- Cyanotic heart disease: These defects of the heart lead to a shortage of oxygen in the blood.
2) Coronary artery disease
This refers to the blockage caused by cholesterol to the coronary arteries responsible for the supply of nutrients and oxygen to the heart muscles.
3) Arrhythmia
It refers to the abnormal beating of the heart. The heart may beat too fast or slow or irregularly. It happens when the impulses that regulate heartbeats are not coordinating properly.
4) Dilated cardiomyopathy
If the muscles of the heart are weak then they get dilated leading to improper supply of blood by the heart. It can be caused due to an inadequate supply of oxygen to heart muscles due to coronary heart disease.
5) Myocardial infarction
This is termed as heart attack, coronary thrombosis or cardiac infarction, this is caused when an interrupted supply of blood leads to damage to the heart or heart muscle. This may be caused by the development of blood clots or when the artery suddenly spasms or narrows down.
6) Heart Failure
This is termed as congestive heart failure. It occurs when the heart fails to supply blood throughout the body efficiently. Mainly caused due to the weakening of the heart due to high blood pressure or coronary heart disease.
Other types of heart diseases include Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, Mitral regurgitation, Mitral valve prolapse, and Pulmonary stenosis.
Symptoms 1
The symptoms of these diseases depend on the type of disease. Here are some commonly observed symptoms: Chain pain, heavy feeling in the chest, pain that seems traveling through your body, feeling lightheaded and dizzy, excessive sweating, nausea, and vomiting.
Treatment and Prevention 1
Heart disease can be treated through two main approaches: medication and surgery. Common medications include statins, which lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and reduce inflammation in blood vessels; beta-blockers, which help manage heart attacks and high blood pressure by slowing the heart rate; ACE inhibitors, which relax blood vessels and ease the heart’s workload, especially in cases of heart failure and hypertension; and blood thinners such as anticoagulants and antiplatelet agents, which prevent blood clots and reduce the risk of stroke or heart attack. 3
Heart surgeries are often effective for treating conditions that cannot be managed with medication alone. Common surgical procedures include angioplasty, which opens blocked arteries using a balloon and often involves placing a stent to keep the artery open; pacemaker implantation to regulate abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias); and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), which restores proper blood flow to the heart by rerouting blood around blocked arteries using vessels from other parts of the body. 4
Preventive methods for heart diseases include:
Eating a balanced diet, sticking to low fat and low cholesterol food, exercising regularly, reducing smoking and consumption of alcohol, controlling conditions like high BP and diabetes that aggravates disease of the heart are the essential tools for preventing heart diseases. 5
At the end of the article, we can emphasize the fact that, while congenital heart disease is not preventable, most other types can be significantly reduced or prevented by following a healthy lifestyle.
