Facts About Heart Disease You Need To Know

Basically, heart disease is a disorder affecting the ability of the heart to function normally. There are many forms of heart disease of varied etiology.

The most widespread form of heart disease is high cholesterol. In the initial stages of the disease, lesions and cracks will form in the walls of blood vessel walls, usually close to the heart itself. The body will repair the damage by depositing fatty substances such as cholesterol and lipoproteins to fill the cracks.

If the body does not get adequate vitamin C that are vital for keeping the blood vessel walls from cracking, the repeated deposition of fatty substances can clog the blood vessels and thus cause a stroke or heart attack.

Types of Heart Diseases

The common forms of heart disease are: coronary heart disease, ischaemic heart disease, pulmonary heart disease, hereditary heart disease, hypertensive heart disease, inflammatory heart disease, and valvular heart disease.

Heart diseases may also occur due to congenital reasons, heart valve malfunction, electrical rhythm of the heart going out of sync, alcoholic cardiomyopathy, aortic regurgitation, heart attacks and heart failure.

Causes of Heart Disease

The major causes of heart disease include obesity, smoking, hypertension, diabetic and a sedentary lifestyle. Others include menopause in women, getting on in age, especially after reaching sixty-five years of age and finally, the arterial walls being struck down with infections.

Damage to the heart muscle or valves due to a congenital defect, as well as inflammation and damage associated with various viral, bacterial, fungal or parasitic diseases can also cause heart disease.

Disease can also cause heart disease, for example atherosclerosis, dermatomyositis, Friedrich's ataxia, hemochromatosis, Kawasaki disease and Paget's disease of bone. Rheumatic fever and syphilis can also cause heart disease, as can genetic or autoimmune disorders in which cellular proteins in the heart muscle are deranged or which disrupt enzymes affecting cardiac function.

Common Symptoms of Heart Disease

The most common symptoms of heart disease include heaviness or pressure on the chest; dizziness; nausea; shortness of breath; back or shoulder pain; irregular or fast heartbeats and excessive heart palpitations. If one encounter any of these problems, it would be prudent to consult a doctor as soon as possible.

Diagnosing Heart Disease

Everyone should be concerned with heart disease and should discuss testing for heart disease with a doctor especially if one have a family history or aggravating lifestyle choices. High blood pressure, frequent loss of breath, heavy smoking or drinking, obesity, high cholesterol, inactivity and diabetes are sound reasons for heart disease testing.

Cure for Heart Disease

On diagnosis of heart disease, the doctor will probably recommend that a patient adopt a healthy lifestyle such as having frequent exercise, a healthy diet, avoiding alcohol and cigarettes. The next treatment will more than likely involve medications and finally surgery.

Although there are many different forms of treatment for heart disease, there is no cure for heart disease. There are promising theories, however none yet have been perfected yet.

Cellular therapy is promising as a possible cure for heart disease. Cellular products have been shown to hold great potential for the treating of damaged and diseased tissues in the body. The sources for cellular product also come in a variety of sources, such as bone marrow stem cell and peripheral blood, as well as from myoblasts from skeletal muscle cells.

Cellular therapy is a growing field for clinical research. It is of growing interest to medical researchers as potential treatments for congestive heart failure and ischemic heart disease, for instance.

The research to date has shown positive results. There are also various other forms of promising treatment. So a cure for heart disease may be a reality in the future.

All treatment for heart disease should be discussed with a doctor but most of the medications will be available on prescription. If the medication is not effective, then the last option may be surgery. There are wide ranges of surgeries and many of them are less invasive so recovery time is shorter.

One should also understand that heart disease is preventable by living a healthy lifestyle such as regular exercise, having low salt and low fat diets as well as abstaining from alcohol and smoking. After all, prevention is much better than cure.