Start/Stop Music |
Music provided by Tony O'Connor - BioTrax recommends Tony's Private Collection for relaxation. Click Here. |
|
|
|
HEALTH ZONE - Heart Disease Introduction |
 |
| One third of deaths are due to heart or circulatory system diseases. |
Ask questions ?
Share views !
Share difficulties with your conditions !
Meet people with a similar condition !
Your not alone !
USA
Click logo for forums
|
|
|
|
Hyperlipidaemia Education and Research Trust
The Hyperlipidaemia Education and Research Trust provides information on scientific research and good clinical practice for the management of hyperlipidaemia (high cholesterol) within the UK...
http://www.heartuk.org.uk/
BUPA
This is a link to the BUPA preventing heart disease fact sheet....
http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_
sheets/html/looking_after_
your_heart.html
The British Heart Foundation
This site contains a lot of information on the causes and treatments of heart disease as well as explanations of terms. The BHF helped make possible many of today's treatments and drugs....
http://www.bhf.org.uk/
|
|
|
|
Each year more than one in three deaths will be from diseases of the heart and circulatory system.
What is Heart Disease?
Heart disease occurs when the heart or the blood vessels serving the heart cannot function properly. A common form of heart disease is coronary heart disease (CHD). However, heart disease is not limited to CHD and can in fact be characterised by many other conditions. Some conditions associated with heart disease are outlined below.
Coronary Heart Disease: Imagine watering the flowers with a hose in the garden. When the hose is straight and is twist and notch free, the water runs freely. However, if the hose has a twist or a notch, less water comes out and at a greater pressure. This is similar to the arteries that lead to the heart. The heart needs a certain amount of oxygen to function properly which is carried in the blood, through the arteries. When atherosclerosis, or the build up of a substance called plaque occurs, the arteries harden and grow narrower. The blood has trouble squeezing through the narrow arteries and therefore cannot provide the heart with the correct amount of oxygen that is required.
Heart Failure: Despite what it sounds like, heart failure does not mean that the heart stops. The term heart failure refers to the heart pumping at a slower rate due to it being weaker than usual. CHD can be a cause of heart failure as the heart has to work harder to pump the blood around the body which results in a higher blood pressure. The blood moving slower around the body results in the vital organs not receiving sufficient amounts of oxygen.
High Blood Pressure: High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is measured by the force of the blood on the arteries as the heart pumps blood around the body. Although blood pressure rises and drops throughout the day, it is not normal for the pressure to remain high. High blood pressure occurs when the large arteries become rigid or hardened and the smaller vessels become narrow due to a build-up of plaque. As a result, the heart has to increase its pressure to ensure the blood continues to flow around the body.
Heart Attack: Probably the most commonly heard of form of heart disease, heart attacks are very serious and can be deadly. Heart attacks occur when there is a complete blockage of the blood vessels of the heart. However, when the heart actually stops working, and ceases to pump blood around the body, this is called cardiac arrest.
The heart is vital to the body's function and pumps 100,000 times a day. Any disruption to the heart's role within the body can cause extremely dangerous health concerns and can even lead to death. In America, a person dies of heart disease every 34 seconds and in the UK it is the main cause of death.
How do I know if I have Heart Disease?
The symptoms that sufferers of heart disease may experience may differ from case to case. Not all forms of heart disease share the same symptoms and the symptoms that do occur will depend on the severity of the heart disease.
Coronary heart disease can sometimes show no symptoms and can be at its most dangerous when it leads to heart attacks and perhaps cardiac arrest. However, for people suffering from coronary heart disease, it is unusual for them not to experience any symptoms. Below are some possible symptoms that may signify heart disease:
Shortness of Breath: Shortness of breath may occur due to the heart being weaker than it should be and therefore not pumping enough blood around the body, thus not providing enough oxygen to the organs. This symptom may be experienced with exertion or change in emotion.
Irregular Heartbeat: The heart beats 100,000 times a day and to a steady rhythm. However, sometimes the heart can lose its rhythm and will sometimes beat at irregular intervals. This is sometimes called arrhythmias. If you experience irregular heartbeats, this does not necessarily mean that you have heart disease. However, it is advised that you seek a professional opinion and have it looked at.
Angina: Perhaps the most common symptom of heart disease, angina or angina pectoris, is characterised by pains in the middle of the chest or the left side of your body - arm, shoulder, upper back etc. It is caused by a lack of blood and thus a lack of oxygen and nutrients reaching the heart. Without the correct supply of oxygen and nutrients, the heart finds it difficult to function as it should. Angina is a temporary symptom and will be experienced for a few seconds or perhaps a few minutes.
If you feel discomfort in the chest and are perhaps breaking into a cold sweat and experiencing a shortness of breath, this could be the initial signs of a heart attack. If you do experience any of these symptoms, you should seek medical attention immediately.
What causes Heart Disease?
The cause of coronary heart disease can relate to a number of different factors. Some of these are outlined below:
Hereditary: It is possible that those with a family history of coronary heart disease will be at greater risk themselves of getting the disease.
Obesity: With a lack of exercise and a poor diet, it is possible to become obese. Obesity can trigger many health problems, with one of them being heart disease. If the arteries are clogged with fatty substances, then the amount of blood flowing around the body will be reduced but with an increased pressure.
Smoking: Here it is again. Smoking always seems to find its way into a disease fact sheet under 'causes'. This is hardly surprising when you learn of all the chemicals that are jam-packed into the little sticks known as cigarettes. When tobacco is burnt, it emits over 4,000 chemicals - all of which enter your body once inhaled. Nicotine, being a stimulant drug, increases your blood pressure and therefore makes your heart work a lot harder to sustain a healthy blood-flow around the body. Carbon monoxide, a gas created when burning something, is emitted in cigarette smoke and when absorbed into the blood-stream, replaces the oxygen in the blood. There's no doubt about it, smoking is a big risk factor concerning heart disease. In fact, the risk of getting coronary heart disease is increased by 70% if you are a smoker.
Stress: You may have heard that stress contributes to heart disease and is a common factor in the cause for some people's deaths. However, there is no hard proof that emotional stress can lead to heart disease. While medical research has discovered that stress is commonly apparent in sufferers of heart disease, it is not a conclusive cause. However, stress can lead to heart disease in a slightly more indirect way. People who experience stress - from work, family life, financial worry etc - are more likely to take-up smoking, binge on fatty foods and reduce their exercising habits. All of these unhealthy lifestyle habits can contribute to heart disease.
 |
| Bill Clinton had bypass surgery to treat his heart disease. |
How can I Treat or Prevent Heart Disease?
The heart, its vessels and arteries and the diseases that can prevent all of the former from doing their jobs, have all been heavily researched over the years. Medical research and medical trials have enabled researchers to gain a better understanding of the function and requirements of the heart. Through the persistent research that has been conducted on the heart, many new technologies and drugs have been approved to aide in the treatment of heart disease.
To help prevent coronary heart disease, there are certain lifestyle choices that you can make. If you are a smoker, then get help and stop. If you're not a smoker, then simply don't become one. Ensure that your diet is healthy and not full of artery blocking fatty foods. Make sure you get plenty of exercise, but ensure you do it right - you don't want to add a broken back or pulled muscle to your list of concerns.
If you have already been diagnosed with coronary heart disease, it is more than likely that your doctor will strongly advise you to make the above lifestyle changes to help slow the progression of the disease and enable you to live a long and healthy life. If you experience angina, there are a few approved medications that increase the blood-flow and decrease the heart's work-load. These include beta-blockers and nitroglycerin.
Aspirin is a common household drug used for pain relief and as an anti-inflammatory. However, the drug also proves useful in managing heart disease. It has been shown, that aspirin can reduce the chance of blood clots appearing in the vessels and arteries, thus maintaining a healthy blood-flow. The discovery of aspirin's powers to help prevent heart disease was pioneered in the late 1980s when a medical trial was conducted involving 22,000 healthy physicians. Half of the group was given aspirin to take every other day and the other half, a placebo (an empty drug with no effect). The results from the clinical trial suggested that by taking the aspirin, the participants had reduced their risk of having a heart attack by nearly half. This illustrates the importance of medical trials in the development of new treatments.
Depending on the stage that your heart disease is at, your doctor may suggest surgery. If there are any blocked blood vessels leading to your heart, it is possible for a doctor to bypass where the blood travels and thus give it another route to your heart. Bill Clinton, famously underwent bypass surgery to treat his chronic heart disease.
Heart disease can be extremely serious and, should you receive any symptoms, you must seek advice from your doctor immediately.
Living with Heart Disease.
If you have been diagnosed with heart disease then it is very important that you stay one step ahead of the disease so that to reduce the damage it can do to you. One way you can do this is with information. Read-up on your condition and gain the best understanding about what you have as possible. Ensure that you recognize what the symptoms are, so that if you experience any further trouble, you know when to seek medical attention.
When living with heart disease it is vital for you to maintain a healthy diet. By living a healthy lifestyle, you can help reduce the chances of a heart attack or any further progression in your heart disease.
If you have been prescribed any medications, follow your doctor's instructions and take them. By taking your prescribed medications, you can help keep your heart working as it should and ease some of the strain that it may experience as a result of the disease.
Keep on top of what is going on inside of your body. Take care of yourself and always seek professional advice if you are unsure.
What can I do to help?
So you've heard of all of the great things that medical research has done for the progression of medications and treatments for heart disease? There are treatments available for heart disease but no miracle cure. With the help of medical trial participants, researchers can better their understanding of heart disease and how to prevent it. Heart disease is consistently being researched and will always need research participants to help develop more and better medications and treatments.
|
|
 Parts of this information has been generously supplied to the BioTrax Volunteer Support Group by the: :
Coalition for Medical Progress
Medical research studies may be conducted and are carefully designed to answer specific medical questions while protecting participants´ safety. Well conducted medical trials are the fastest and safest way to find improved treatments and preventions for diseases. Clinical trials or interventional trials determine whether experimental preventions, treatments, or new ways of using known therapies are safe and effective under controlled conditions. Observational or natural history studies examine health issues and disease development in groups of people or populations. For more information on current medical trials or to register on the BioTrax database, view the study section at www.biotrax.com .
Why not E-Mail this Health Zone News Letter to a friend who may benefit or print copies to give to your support groups or friends? Click on the buttons below.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
