Common Heart Diseases
Heart disease is the number one killer of Americans. Heart disease is a blanket term for any and all health conditions affecting the heart.
This article discusses five types of heart diseases: coronary, hypertensive, heart failure, inflammatory, and valvular. Use this article as a way to become familiar with the different types of heart disease and what they affect, not as a replacement for the necessary visits to a doctor.
Coronary Heart Disease
Coronary heart disease is a disease of the blood vessels. Those vessels or the arteries can either become narrowed or blocked which results in decreased blood flow. When blood flow is decreased, the heart does not receive the oxygen it needs for optimal function. Ischemic heart disease is the condition that results from blocked coronary arteries and decreased blood supply. Both coronary and ischemic heart diseases usually result in some kind of chest pain, known as angina. They can also result in heart attack.
This type of heart disease is caused by atherosclerosis, or the narrowing of the coronary arteries due to build up of fat, cholesterol, and other substances. Those deposits are called plaque. According to the American Heart Association,
"Plaque can erode the artery wall and diminish its elasticity. Plaque deposits can also rupture causing blood clots to form that can block blood flow or break off and travel to another part of the body. This is a common cause of heart attack and stroke."
Hypertensive Heart Disease
Atherosclerosis can also contribute to hypertensive heart disease. Hypertensive heart is a disease late complication of high blood pressure, also known as hypertension.
Prolonged hypertension requires the heart to work harder to pump blood, causing the heart muscle to thicken. Pumping against the high pressure also means the ventricles can become enlarged, decreasing the amount of blood the heart pumps each minute.
Heart Failure
Hypertension can also lead to heart failure. There are two types of heart failure. The first, diastolic heart failure, affects the ventricles, or pumping chambers, of the heart. The chambers thicken and stiffen, and the heart muscle can’t relax enough to fill the chambers with blood. Fluid backs up into organs causing congestion and swelling, or edema, in the feet and ankles.
The second, systolic heart failure, affects the strength at which the heart pumps. As time passes, the ventricles become weaker and enlarged. Similar to diastolic heart failure, the inability of the heart to efficiently pump out blood leads to swelling in different parts of the body and lung congestion. In advanced stages of the disease, the heart fails to pump sufficient blood and oxygen to meet the body’s needs.
The American Heart Association has developed a system to measure the progression of heart failure. Of the four identified stages, the first two, stages A and B, include people who have not yet developed heart failure, but are at high risk to do so because of coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, or other risk factors. The third stage, stage C represents patients with past or current symptoms of heart failure. The final stage, stage D, includes patients who have advanced heart failure and standard treatment is not enough to manage the disease.
Inflammatory Heart Disease
Inflammatory heart disease can be caused by either an external factor, like a bacterial or viral infection, or an internal reaction, like an autoimmune condition. Myocarditis, or cardiomyopathy, is one example of inflammatory heart disease caused by a viral infection and results in reduced function of the heart muscle. Its symptoms resemble those of heart failure, and can even mimic heart attack.
Pericarditis is another form of inflammatory heart disease. Instead of affecting the heart muscle directly, it affects the pericardium, or the outer sac that surrounds the heart. When the pericardium becomes inflamed, it’s usually a result of an infection, but it can also result from heart attack, cancer, radiation treatment, injury, or surgery.
Valvular Heart Disease
As the name implies, valvular heart disease refers to any abnormality of one of the four heart valves: aortic, pulmonic, tricuspid, or mitral. Heart valves are tissue flaps that regulate the flow of blood through the heart. If the valve opening is too small, it is more difficult for the heart to pump blood. This condition is known as valvular stenosis. If the valve doesn’t close tightly enough, blood can leak back through the valve and reduce the amount of blood flowing to the body. This condition is known as valvular insufficiency, or a leaky valve.
Some of the heart diseases discussed in this article overlap, or have similar symptoms. Some of them can even contribute to the other. It is vital to visit with your doctor and be given a specific diagnosis to receive proper treatment.
