Heart disease is a broad term used to describe the various types of diseases affecting the heart and its blood vessels. The effects of heart disease can be serious, resulting in reduction of blood flow to the heart, heart valve defects and abnormal heart beats. It is the No. 1 cause of death in men and women worldwide and in the U.S., according to MayoClinic.com.
Valvular Insufficiency
Valvular insufficiency refers to the backward flow of blood in the heart due to a malfunctioning heart valve. Valve stenosis, a form of insufficiency, involves the narrowing of the heart’s valves as result of scar tissue build up. Commonly associated with rheumatic fever, valve stenosis makes the heart work harder to pump blood through the smaller openings and may cause the heart to enlarge. The regurgitation of blood due to insufficient valves creates a sound which is referred to as a heart murmur by physicians.
Another type of insufficiency, mitral valve prolapse, is the result of a floppy mitral or left-side heart valve where the valve gets pushed back during heart beat, causing blood backflow. Predominantly a genetic disease, one out of 40 people—especially younger women—are affected by mitral valve prolapse, say Kenneth S. Saladin, Ph.D., author of "Anatomy and Physiology: The Unity of Form and Function." Valvular insufficiency may eventually lead to heart failure if left untreated.
Ischemia and Myocardial Infarction
Myocardial infarction, more commonly known as heart attack, is the death of a section of the heart muscle due to ischemia, or lack of blood flow. This occurs when the blood vessels supplying blood to the heart, called the coronary arteries, become blocked by fat deposits or blood clots. Therefore, the heart tissue does not receive enough blood and dies, which is felt as a heavy chest pressure or squeezing pain that radiates outward from the mid-chest. Angina is the medical terminology for chest pain associated with compromised blood flow to the heart. Saladin cites heart attack as the cause for nearly half the deaths in the United States.
Cardiac Arrythmias
Common types of cardiac arrhythmias include atrial flutter, premature ventricular contractions and ventricular fibrillation. Atria flutter occurs when the top heart chambers beat faster than the lower chambers, up to 400 times per minute. Premature ventricular contractions involve the heart’s bottom chambers beating earlier than its top chambers. These types of contractions may indicate a serious underlying heart issue and result from stress, lack of sleep and stimulant drugs.
Caused by misfiring of the heart’s electrical signals, ventricular fibrillation is a serious arrhythmia involving multiple random and non-rhythmic contractions of the heart’s bottom chambers. As a result, the heart does not fully contract and cannot pump blood, potentially causing heart attack and cardiac arrest, or complete stopping of the heart. If not treated and regulated by a device known as a defibrillator, fibrillation will lead to death quickly, Saladin writes.
References
- MayoClinic.com: Heart Disease
- "Anatomy and Physiology: The Unity of Form and Function"; The Circulatory System: The Heart; Kenneth S. Saladin, Ph.D.; 2007
