Learning About Heart Disease

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. What most people don't know about the term "heart disease" is that it is an umbrella term that encompasses a number of different afflictions that can affect the heart's operation and harm the heart. So, what are some of the different types of cardiovascular disease?

Coronary Heart Disease

Coronary heart disease is also called CAD and is basically the result of an accumulation of swollen cells and other substances along the inside walls of the arteries. In CAD, this accumulation is typically centered around the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle or the myocardium. This disease is typically silent throughout most of the patient's life, as the symptoms simply build on top of one another.

Usually, a significant heart attack or series of heart attacks will be the leading symptom to CAD. This occurs as the disease progresses and the accumulation of swollen cells and tissues crowding the arteries end up rupturing. This starts to limit the flow to the heart muscle. When this happens, the condition can sometimes lead to sudden death as the result of a large heart attack or series of heart attacks.

Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease is essentially another umbrella term that refers to several individual diseases or afflictions that affect the heart and the blood vessels or veins and arteries. Most of the conditions involved with cardiovascular disease have the same symptoms, causes and treatments. Cardiovascular disease is typically found in the Western culture, as the stress of the Western lifestyle often puts a strain on the heart and leads to more problems.

There are many ways to prevent the medical symptoms of cardiovascular disease. There are some risk factors for this heart disease that cannot be removed, such as age and family history. However, most of the risk factors that make people more likely to encounter a form of this disease can be eliminated. Smoking is a key risk when it comes to cardiovascular disease, so quitting is always be a good idea. Getting regular exercise, eating properly and watching stress levels also helps to prevent heart disease.

Hypertensive Heart Disease

One of the more common forms of heart disease in the Western culture is hypertensive heart disease. This is basically a form of hypertension that affects the heart muscle. Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a condition in which the blood pressure is elevated to dangerous levels for an extended period of time.

Some symptoms of hypertensive heart disease include fatigue, irregular heartbeat, swelling of the feet or other extremities, weight gain and shortness of breath (also called dyspnea). There are many causes to hypertensive heart disease, but most of them are related to the general care of the human body. Quitting smoking, getting regular exercise, eating properly and monitoring personal stress levels are good ways to prevent this form of heart disease.