Heart Disease: Who Is At A Higher Risk Of Having Heart Disease?
Your body has five vital organs without which you cannot survive. These are, in sequence, the brain, heart, kidneys, liver, and lungs. Among these, diseases of the heart are the leading causes of death among both men and women in the United States. Even on a global scale, heart disease kills more than any other disease, according to a 2016 study by the World Health Organization.
Heart disease is anything that affects the normal function and/or structure of the heart. They are also known as Cardiovascular Diseases or CVDs. These also include Coronary artery diseases or CADs. The arteries are responsible for the flow of oxygenated blood to the heart.
There are different types of heart diseases, depending on what part of the heart they affect.
· Coronary Artery Diseases:
Also called coronary heart disease, this is the most common among the family of heart diseases. The function of the coronary arteries is to supply the heart with oxygenated blood. Just like the rest of your body needs blood, so does your heart for its proper functioning. If your arteries get clogged by fat, it reduces the supply of blood to the heart, which causes chest pains (angina) and can also lead to a heart attack in severe conditions.
After a certain age, the chances of you suffering from this disease increase. Depending on your lifestyle and diet, the age may be lower, and the severity high. Some other factors that are involved are:
- Obesity
- Stress
- Inactivity
- Diabetes
- Family history
- High blood pressure
- Cholesterol imbalance
- Smoking
You might think that as you get older, some diseases are just inevitable, but that is not entirely true. You can vastly improve your health and lifespan by changing your lifestyle. Especially when it comes to this disease, it is easy to avoid. The changes are mostly the same for every type of heart disease, but we’ll get to those in a bit.
· Heart Failure
All of these diseases are interrelated. One causes the other and vice versa. This is the case with heart failure and coronary heart disease. When the heart does not get enough blood, it becomes weak, and when it becomes weak, it is unable to supply blood to meet the needs of the body. The same can happen if the heart muscle becomes stiff. Some other things that cause heart failure are:
- High blood pressure
- Thyroid disease
- Cardiomyopathy
Anything that causes coronary artery disease also causes heart failure.
· Heart Arrhythmias
This is the abnormal beating of the heart and is also called cardiac dysrhythmia. There are a few types of arrhythmias, including:
- Bradycardia (slow heartbeat)
- Tachycardia (fast heartbeat)
- Fibrillation (irregular heartbeat)
- Premature contraction (early heartbeat)
Most of the time, these are not harmful, but some can cause serious damage. A healthy heart has a low heart rate. For a normal person, it ranges from 60 to 100 beats per minute. Some things that can lead to arrhythmia are:
- Drug use
- Too much caffeine
- High blood pressure
- Hyperthyroidism
- Heart attack and congestive heart failure
- Stress
- Smoking
Arrhythmia mostly does not have any symptoms, but some common ones among all the types are dizziness, breathlessness, and chest pain.
· Heart Valve Disease
The heart has four valves to direct blood flow between its chambers and the rest of the body. These valves open and close with every heartbeat. If they become damaged, then the blood flow will become restricted. The causes of heart valve diseases are:
- Rheumatic fever or other infections
- Congenital heart disease
- High blood pressure
- Coronary heart disease
- Heart attack
- Birth defects
There are three types of heart valve diseases:
- Regurgitation (valves do not close properly)
- Stenosis (thickening or stiffening of valves)
- Atresia (no opening for blood)
Cardiomyopathy
This is also called heart muscle disease. This happens when the heart muscle stretches too much, thickens or becomes stiff. This can lead to your heart not being able to pump properly. This can cause heart failure, as well. Its types are:
- Dilated cardiomyopathy (dilated left ventricle)
- Hypertonic cardiomyopathy (thickened heart muscle)
- Restrictive cardiomyopathy (rigid heart muscle)
It does not occur on its own but because of other conditions, which include:
- High blood pressure
- Tissue damage
- Heart valve diseases
- Obesity
- Essential vitamin or mineral deficiency
- Alcohol and drug usage
- Hemochromatosis
- Sarcoidosis and amyloidosis
- Congenital Heart Disease
This type of heart disease is a birth defect. This happens when the heart is not formed properly while still in the womb. They can manifest themselves slowly as the child grows or immediately after birth. These defects usually require surgery to fix.
· Pericardial Disease
The pericardium is the double-walled sac that encloses the heart and contains the pericardial fluid. This disease is caused by the inflammation of any of the two walls. Its causes include:
- Viral infections
- Any injury to the pericardium
- Inflammatory diseases
- Cancer
- After heart surgery
Are You at Risk?
People most in danger are those that are 55 or more in age if it is not a birth defect. As you get old, your arteries become harder, and fatty deposits increase. This disease is more common in men, but in later years, the risk becomes almost the same in both men and women. Lower or middle-income families are at a higher risk because of stress, diet containing more saturated fats, and also no proper health care.
All of these diseases have mostly similar causes and symptoms. The common symptoms include:
- Chest pain
- Shortness of breath or breathlessness
- Fatigue
- Lightheadedness
The commons causes (if not genetic) are:
- Obesity
- High blood pressure
- Smoking or other drugs
If you face these problems, then you should get checked by a doctor. These things not only affect your heart in a negative way but the rest of your body as well. Fixing them can lead to overall better life. Luckily in most cases, you can fix these things without surgery at home. But these are not the only causes, and in some cases, fixing them will not result in full recovery. You might end up in need of surgery and/or medicines.
After a certain age i.e., 55 for men and after menopause for women, the risk of heart diseases increases. You can reduce or delay the risk by eating healthy and doing exercise. Everything you eat has an effect on your body. A balanced diet and exercise are the two most important things you can do for your body. They can prevent all kinds of diseases and make your later years easier. All those carbs and sugars will come back to haunt you later. It is best to act now and prevent the disease rather than wait for it to happen.
Mitigating the risk of heart disease is easy with the help of professionals. At South Florida CardioVascular Specialists, you can get the help you need to stay safe from heart diseases.
