Heart disease refers to diseases that only occur in the heart and the blood vessel system within it. The most common type of heart disease is coronary heart disease, which is the focus of this article. This article uses the phrase "heart disease" to refer specifically to coronary heart disease.
Other names for coronary heart disease include:
Understanding Heart Disease
The coronary arteries are blood vessels that carry blood and oxygen to the heart muscle.
When these arteries become clogged with fatty deposits called
plaque, it's called coronary artery disease, coronary heart disease, or just heart disease. Clogged arteries can keep the heart from getting enough blood and oxygen, and can cause chest pain (
angina). If a blood clot forms, it can suddenly cut off blood flow in the artery and cause a
heart attack.
Plaque forms in the arteries over many years in a process called
atherosclerosis. One cause of plaque in the arteries is too much
cholesterol in the blood. As plaque builds up, the artery gradually narrows and becomes clogged. The artery can also become less elastic, which is often referred to as "
hardening of the arteries."
How Do You Know If You Have It?
Just because you have
heart disease does not mean that you will experience symptoms.
Plaque can be building up in your arteries with no symptoms. In fact, it usually takes many years of plaque buildup before symptoms appear. Symptoms generally appear when the coronary arteries have been sufficiently clogged to cause a reduction in blood flow to the heart. At this point, a person will experience symptoms from clogged arteries.
The most common symptoms are:
- Chest pain or discomfort (angina)
- Pain in one or both arms, the left shoulder, neck, jaw, or back
- Shortness of breath
- Dizziness
- Faster heartbeats
- Nausea (feeling sick to your stomach)
- Abnormal heartbeats
- Feeling very tired.
There is no one single
test for heart disease. In order to make a diagnosis, your doctor will ask about your medical and family history, your risk factors, and do a physical exam and several tests. These procedures are used to determine if you have heart disease, the extent and severity of the disease, and to rule out other possible causes of your symptoms.
Important lifestyle changes for preventing heart disease or controlling it include:
Other information you may find helpful may be found in the following eMedTV articles:
What About Taking Aspirin for Prevention?
Many people wonder about taking aspirin to help
prevent heart disease or a
heart attack. There are certain groups of people for whom taking aspirin makes sense; however, it does not make sense for everyone. In some situations, the risk of taking aspirin outweighs any benefits it may convey.
There is no
cure for heart disease, but it can be controlled. Treatment will vary for each particular situation. Everyone diagnosed with
heart disease will need to undergo lifestyle changes. Depending on the severity, these may be the only changes a person needs to make. For more serious conditions, treatment may include medications or certain procedures and
cardiac rehabilitation (
cardiac rehab for short).
Over time, heart disease can weaken the heart muscle and contribute to:
- Heart failure. In heart failure, the heart is unable to pump blood to the rest of the body effectively. Heart failure does not mean that the heart has stopped or is about to stop working. But it does mean that the heart is failing to pump blood the way that it should.
- Arrhythmias. Arrhythmias are changes in the normal rhythm of the heartbeats. Some can be quite serious.
Many women think heart disease is a man's problem. But it is very much a woman's problem -- in fact, heart disease is the number one killer of American women.
- In 2004, the total number of adults in the United States living with heart disease was 24.7 million. This represented 11.5 percent of the population.
- Based on the 2001 statistics for heart disease, 4.4 million people were hospitalized because of heart disease, with an average hospital stay of 4.6 days.
- Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States. Based on 2003 data, 685,089 people died from heart disease. Heart disease and stroke account for nearly 40 percent of all deaths.
(Click Statistics on Heart Disease for more information.)
