Cardiac failure is a chronic condition wherein a structural abnormality or disease limits the heart's capacity to pump an adequate amount of blood through the body. Medications augment heart function in people with cardiac failure, also known as heart failure. Cardiac decompensation is a sudden worsening in symptoms associated with heart failure. This situation may occur due to the progression of cardiac failure or a change in circumstances, such as missing doses of medication or the development of an infection or anemia.
Low potassium, or hypokalemia, occurs clinically when blood serum potassium falls below 3.5 milliequivalents per liter. This may result from a number of factors, including diarrhea, vomiting, inadequate consumption of high-pota...
These defects are usually detected during the newborn period, but some children have only mild symptoms that may delay detection of their heart condition to a later date or even into adulthood. Some common symptoms of cardiac d...
Fluid overload may be caused either by acute renal failure or by heart failure. Tapering salt intake and being careful not to eat hidden salts in foods may help. Medications including diuretics prescribed for both disease proce...
More than one in four deaths occurs because of heart disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States for both men and women. Every yea...
According to the American Heart Association, about 36,000 children are born with a heart defect every year. Most of these congenital heart defects can benefit from surgery, but early recognition of the symptoms of congenital he...
According to the Mayo Clinic, the signs and symptoms of coronary artery disease or heart attack are more subtle in women, because women tend to have blockages both in smaller arteries that supply blood to the heart as well as i...
According to the CDC statistics, coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States. More women die from some form of heart disease than from all forms of cancer. Though women can experience the...
Cardiac or heart disease remains a leading cause of death in both men and women. According to the Texas Heart Institute, though men experience heart disease symptoms an average of 10 years earlier than women, cardiovascular dis...
Yet, the American Heart Association reports that heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States. While many deaths are unavoidable, some can be prevented by regular medical care, a healthy lifestyle and pay...
Cardiac ischemia is a lack of blood flow in the vessels that supply blood to the heart muscle--the coronary arteries. Transient, or brief, ischemia involves spasmodic attacks of intense pain; doctors often refer to this as angi...
This block can be partial or complete, resulting in no symptoms to serious symptoms such as fainting and cardiac arrhythmia. Heart block examples include first degree, second degree, third degree, and bundle branch.
The term covers a myriad of conditions which can range from irregular or fast heartbeats to cardiac emergencies. As a practicing cardiologist, I hear patients from age 15-95 describe symptoms such as a pounding in the chest o...
