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Article by F. Kuhn, RN

UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS OF YOUR HEART AND HEART DISEASE

Understand the basics associated with your heart and blood vessels. Here you will get an understanding of all the different types of cardiovascular disease that can be confusing. Get a basic overview of cardiovascular disease and the conditions that can affect your heart and blood vessels.

You probably hear a lot about preventing heart disease. But maybe you’re not sure what heart disease is. Is it the same thing as cardiovascular disease, coronary artery disease or other heart terms you sometimes see?

With many medical terms related to the heart and blood vessels, it’s no wonder you may be puzzled or confused. Here you will have a chance to brush up on some basic terms about cardiovascular disease (CVD) that can help you stay more informed. This can then help you when you’re watching the news or meeting with your doctor.

The first term to know is Cardiovascular Disease or CVD. CVD is a broad term. CVD is a large collection of diseases and conditions.

If you want to be technical, CVD refers to any disorder in any of the various parts of your heart system. Your cardiovascular system consists of your heart and all the blood vessels throughout your whole body.

Cardiovascular disease has two main mechanisms:

Diseases of the Heart (cardio)

Diseases of the Blood Vessels (vascular)

Everything from an aneurysm to a heart attack to varicose veins are all types of CVD. You may be born with a type of CVD (congenital) or you may acquire others later on in life possibly from a lifetime of unhealthy habits, lack of exercise, smoking, and other factors.

Here’s a closer look at the two mechanisms of cardiovascular disease.

Diseases of the Heart

The diseases and conditions that affect the heart are in a group known as heart disease. The heart consists of a muscle that pumps blood. Arteries supply blood to the heart muscle, and the valves make sure that the blood within the heart is pumped in the right direction. Problems can occur in any of these areas.

Just like CVD, Heart Disease is a broad term.

Here are the specific types of heart disease:

**Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)

**Coronary Heart Disease (CHD)

**Cardiomyopathy

**Valvular heart disease

**Pericardial disease

**Congenital heart disease

**Heart failure (CHF)

Diseases of the Blood Vessels

Blood vessels are in basic terms hollow tubes that carry blood to the organs and tissues throughout your body.

There are 4 basic types of blood vessels:

Arteries. These blood vessels carry oxygenated blood to all parts of the body

Veins. These blood vessels carry deoxygenated blood back to your heart. That is why they have a bluish cast to their color

Capillaries. These are tiny vessels that connect your arteries and veins.

Lymphatics. Fluid that leaks out of your capillaries in order to bathe your cells.

Here are some types of blood vessel disorders:

**Arteriosclerosis and atherosclerosis

**High blood pressure (HBP) or Hypertension (HTN)

**Stroke

**Aneurysm

**Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) and claudication

**Vasculitis

**Venous incompetence

**Venous thrombosis or blood clot

**Varicose veins

**Lymphedema

Heart Disease is a serious condition. Watch your fatty food intake, smoking, as well as your sweet tooth intake. Both can cause serious heart problems.

It is best to start out slow when changing your diet. Eating fresh fruits and vegetables is a great way to start.

About the Author

F. Kuhn, RN specializing in diabetes

http://www.heartnewscenter.comhttp://www.onediabetes.com

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Article by James Madisonic

Heart disease is a potential threat to millions of people worldwide. A killer disease like heart attack can strike anytime, and threaten people with improper diet, lifestyles and certain genetic preconditions. Coronary Heart Disease afflicts about 14 million Americans.

Cause Of Heart Disease

Heart disease is caused by a buildup of fat and tissue in the arteries, the vessels that carry blood from heart to various parts of the body. The arteries are clogged with the buildup that leads to improper blood flow. This causes heart disease since the heart cannot receive oxygen carried by blood. This type of hardening of arterial walls is known as arteriosclerosis.

Risk Factors

There are several risk factors for heart disease. They include cholesterol, tobacco, fat containing diet and sedentary lifestyle. Obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure can also cause heart disease. Heredity is another major predictor of heart disease. If you lead a stressful life, then chances of heart disease are also high.

Risk factors are classified into modifiable and non-modifiable depending on whether you can reduce the risk by controlling the risk factors. Heredity, age and gender are non-modifiable risk factors, while cholesterol, smoking, diabetes and high blood pressure are modifiable risk factors.

Are The Risk Factors Good Predictors Of Heart Disease?

Heart disease is caused by the interplay of various risk factors, including cholesterol. Cholesterol is one of the major predictors of heart disease. Heredity, as mentioned, is another; people whose family members have been afflicted by heart disease should go for regular screening.

Symptoms Of Heart Disease

Heart disease may be known, as a “silent killer” since the onset of the heart attack can often be fatal. However, there are certain symptoms you should watch out for.

1. Pain in the chest.2. Pain in upper abdomen.3. Panting after strenuous activity.4. Nausea and vomiting.5. Dizzy spells.

Timely medical attention can spell the difference between life and death.

Preventing Heart Disease

Preventing heart disease is easy and a few precautions can go a long way in reducing your chances of getting heart attack. Keeping bad cholesterol levels low is very important. Traditional risk factors can identify people most at risk, so it is important to consult a medical practitioner and be sure that risk is minimized.

Lifestyle changes can have a huge impact on occurrence of heart disease. If you do not lead an active life, chances of heart disease go up multiple times. Stress is another major cause of heart disease. In order to prevent heart disease, you need to be physically active and have a low calorie, high fiber diet. Smoking and too much alcohol can also make heart disease a difficult condition to treat.

Tests For Heart Disease

Your doctor may ask for tests to confirm heart disease if he suspects you fall in the high-risk category. The tell tale signs physicians look for in a routine check include irregular heartbeat and murmurs. Tests include coronary angiography, ECG or electrocardiogram and CT scan. Your medical practitioner will recommend the best test. A chest x ray might also be recommended.

Heart disease can be prevented through changes in lifestyle and by reducing mental stress. Proper diet, exercise and a stress free lifestyle go a long way in countering one of the leading killers of the modern age. Modern medicine has also found better ways to cure heart disease, even for those prone to it due to hereditary and other factors. If you have crossed the age of 30 and think you are in the moderate or high-risk category, you should visit your medical practitioner today and get a thorough check up done.

About the Author

Lipistat may help prevent the onset of cardiovascular disease. For more information on Lipistat visit out site at http://www.mymedicenter.com/lipistat/lipistat.html

Article by Cindy Heller

Heart disease is a general term for a number of different diseases, all of which influence the heart in some way. Heart disease is in fact considered as being the leading reason of death nowadays in the United States. Heart disease indeed possesses serious threat to many people. Therefore, it is important to understand the methods to prevent and treat heart disease.

Prevention methods

There is reason to be hopeful because according to experts, heart disease prevention is promising. Even though some risk factors including sex, genetics, and age of a person are not within our control, one can still make an alteration in lifestyle and also change diet so that the odds of heart disease are significantly reduced.

There are also other methods by which heart disease prevention can be achieved. According to what the American Heart Association proposes, one must control obesity even in children and also make a determined attempt to take proper diet that contains enough nutrition. One of the better nutritional supplements you may want to try for heart disease prevention is mangosteen puree that is rich in antioxidants which aid in destroying free radicals that are the reason behind damage to cells and which in turn will result in heart disease.

Good heart disease prevention may also mean controlling the blood pressure and having LDL cholesterol at low levels. The best way to attain these goals is by making appropriate changes to diet and even by taking medications if so recommended by the doctor. Clearly, having low blood sugar levels will consider as heart disease prevention.

Another alternative is to exercise because it is a well known fact that regular exercise can reduce the risks of heart disease. Experts have a tendency to recommend as much exercise as humanly possible at least an hour per day. For many people, this seems like a never-ending task but the truth is this amount of exercise can be attained in ways other than going to the gym. Basically changing some habits, such as walking to work, can make people healthier. Walking is perhaps the easiest, cheapest, and healthiest type of exercise for most people and therefore should be taken advantage of.

The best heart disease prevention may not be a solitary course of action; rather, one may decide to have many strategies combined into one that will prove to be more effective. You can select approaches such as changes in diet, together with reducing excess weight and also maintaining blood sugar levels as well as taking nutritional supplements that are suggested by health experts.

Treatment options for heart disease

If you have heart disease then you will have to have some types of heart disease treatment in order to solve your problem. There are various heart disease treatment options that are available nowadays. The first treatment is of course prevention as explained previously.

However, if your heart disease is serious, than most probably you will also have to use more serious techniques of heart disease treatment. This includes medical treatment, which will usually be started straight away, even before an exact diagnosis of a heart problem is made.

This medical treatment may comprise of oxygen from a tube in the nose, oxygen through a face mask, nitroglycerin under the tongue, pain medicines, and aspirin. There are also clot dissolving medications which are often given, and the earlier these drugs are given, the higher the chances of opening the blocked artery and defending the cardiac muscle from further injury.

Cellular therapy, for example, is considered as being a potential treatment for heart disease. This is due to cellular products have been revealed to hold great potential for the treating of injured and diseased tissues in the body. They come from many sources, such as stem cells from bone marrow, peripheral blood, and myoblasts from skeletal muscle cells. The research so far has shown that this cellular therapy offers amazingly positive results, and so with additional research and more advancement, in the future this just may be known as the cure for heart disease.

Surgery can be executed on those who experience heart disease at any age although other methods are preferable. Surgery is necessary for those who do not react to their medications or whose condition worsens radically. In some situations, surgery is the only method to amend the problem and give the patient a probability of good health. In uncommon cases, repeat surgery is needed afterward to rid the body of excess fluids that have developed in the chest.

Heart surgery can be wearing and the healing period can be slow so it is no surprise to find out that a huge number of people who suffer from heart disease which needs surgery are interested in less invasive surgery. Less invasive surgery for heart disease can involve smaller incisions, less pain, and a much faster healing period. Not only does this type of surgery involve shorter hospital stays, it can also reduce the risks of complications to the patient during and after the operation.

There are many resources that are available if you want more information on the treatment of heart disease. The most significant thing of all is to keep a healthy lifestyle, a healthy and nutritious diet, and plenty of exercise. By keeping a healthy lifestyle you will not only be guarding yourself against heart disease but as well against all illnesses and health conditions in general.

About the Author

Cindy Heller is a professional writer. Visit facts about heart disease to learn more about cure for heart disease and reversing heart disease.

UCSF’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute presents this series exploring the latest science about the treatment and management of Cardiovascular disease. Join William Grossman, MD., Chief, Division of Cardiology, UCSF for a look at the use of drug therapy in the treatment of Atherosclerotic Heart and Vascular Disease. Series: “UCSF Mini Medical School for the Public” [2/2006] [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 11317]

Don describes how he had a heart attack, which was followed by recommendations for heart surgery (bypass). He lost 60 pounds, lowered his blood pressure and cholesterol, cured his heart disease, and regained his lost health by a simple change to the McDougall Diet. Visit www.drmcdougall.com
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Article by Sander Bel

The heart disease is mostly appear in the men than the women. The heart disease in women can seen on the age of 65 and older. The women causes the most of the disease of breast cancer. The black women are more to have high blood pressure and diabetes than white women. The heart disease have a number of abnormal conditions which affects the heart and the blood vessels in the heart. There are so many causes of heart disease such as depression, blockage of the coronary arteries, stress and so on.

Types of heart diseaseThere are several types of the heart disease which are depend on the heart actions such as the heart does not get enough blood, an artery is completely blocked and the changes in the beat of the heart. The different types of the heart disease are as follows

Coronary artery disease Heart failure Heart arrhythmias What are the heart attack symptoms in women?There are various symptoms are seen in the heart disease but these symptoms are different in men and women.

Neck, shoulder and abdominal discomfort Shortness of breath Chest pain Abnormal heartbeats Sweating How to avoid the heart disease in women? The heart disease in women’s are rarely caused. But when it cause to any women it may have big risk. We have to take prevention for the heart disease in women. They some of the preventions are as follows

Be active To maintain a normal weight Do exercise regularly for 30 minutes. Don’t smoke. Check the diabetes and cholesterol level. To take their doctors prescribed medications properly on time. To maintain a healthy lifestyle To go for the regular check up. What are the treatments for the women heart disease?Now a day there are various treatments such as medicines, supplements and surgery are available and researchers also find for the more advanced treatments for the heart disease. So we can maintain the heart disease. Some of the treatments of the heart disease are as follows

Beta blockers may be useful for women heart disease. The bypass surgery is used for the heart disease. To prevent the heart disease in women some times blood thinners are used. Aspirin can manage the risk factors of the heart condition. Omega-3 fatty acids may be also effective on the women heart disease.

About the Author

Sander Bel writes articles for womens health. He also writes for women and beauty and makeup tips.

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