Blood circulation goes in a circle, which makes sense, given its name. Arteries carry blood away from the heart, and veins return blood to the heart. With one exception, blood carried away from the heart is oxygenated blood, and blood returning in...
The coronary arteries form the circulation system of the heart. The Texas Heart Institute notes that these arteries extend around and in the heart to supply the heart muscles, walls, nodes and valves with oxygenated blood. This system of arteries...
Life, clearly, is in the blood. As a transport mechanism for waste products, life-sustaining oxygen and nutrients, normal blood flow is essential to your health. That's why the different parts of your heart continuously beat in unison, receiving...
Angina is a type of chest pain caused by a reduction in blood flow to the heart muscle. Patients typically describe angina as pressure, heaviness or tightness in the chest. The most common forms of angina are stable and unstable angina. Stable...
Cardiac ischemia, also referred to as myocardial ischemia, occurs when plaque-filled arteries block blood supply to the heart. As a result, the heart does not get enough oxygen and responds by reducing its output of blood. Michael H. Crawford...
Diabetes is a metabolic disorder that results in excess blood sugar, or hyperglycemia, and disturbances of fat, carbohydrate, and protein metabolism. A defect in the action of your body's insulin or a lack of insulin typically causes diabetes. The...
With today's awareness about heart disease, most savvy consumers have learned the basics about what they can do to prevent a heart attack. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 652,000 men and women died in 2005...
Heart surgery -- once considered a rare and dangerous procedure -- now occurs thousands of times each day in the United States. People have heart surgery for a variety of reasons, including blocked coronary arteries or the need for a new heart...
Varicose veins are abnormally enlarged veins that typically appear in your upper or lower legs. They occur when the valves in your veins weaken or undergo destructive changes. Fish oil contains substances called omega-3 fatty acids, which can...
Exercise is a vital part of a successfully functioning lifestyle. Though it is only one component of healthy living, exercise can still prevent or diminish the chances of many major illnesses and health problems. Simple exercise such as brisk...
Vegetables have almost no fat and do not contain any cholesterol. These two components are key factors when it comes to clogged arteries. Since vegetables do not contain cholesterol and have very little fat, they cannot clog your arteries. Eating...
The cardiovascular system depends on the health and function of the vasculature and circulating blood as well as the heart pump itself. Exercise benefits the vasculature and heart muscle as much as it improves skeletal muscle function....
The yarrow plant is related to chrysanthemums and chamomile plants, and the flowers, stems and leaves can be used for medicinal purposes. While this plant was widely used in European folk medicine, there are not many scientific studies on its...
Calcified arteries in the heart are a form of coronary arteriosclerosis. In this condition, the arteries become hard and narrowed. This restricts the flow of blood to the heart, limiting the amount of work it can perform, even to the point at...
Heart disease is a term used to describe a broad range of conditions that affect the circulatory system including coronary artery disease, heart rhythm disturbances and heart valve problems. Other disorders affect the pumping ability of the heart,...
Heparin is a substance made by the white blood cells in the body itself; it is also a medication used for thinning the blood. This powerful injectable or oral prescription drug is commonly sold under the brand names Coumadin, Dicumarol, Miradon,...
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease is the leading killer of men and women in the United States. With over 47 percent of heart attack victims dying before they reach emergency medical facilities, proper...
As medical technology advances, lifespans are increasing. But that means the average person's likelihood of developing diseases of aging is also growing. Some purported life extension techniques, such as caloric restriction, carry the promise of...
The coronary arteries are those blood vessels that supply the heart muscle with the blood, oxygen and nutrients necessary to keep it functioning. These blood vessels can become blocked with fatty buildup of plaque in a process called...
According the American Heart Association, there are nearly 1.5 million heart attacks each year leading to more than 400,000 deaths. A heart attack, or myocardial infarction, occurs when one of the coronary arteries that feed the heart muscle...
In the medical world, cholesterol problems may be referred to as Dyslipidemia, a condition in which there are an abnormal amount of lipids in the blood (including cholesterol, triglycerides, or both). Individuals with an abnormally high level of...
MayoClinic.com says coronary artery bypass grafting is a surgical procedure that's performed for people with coronary artery disease. In this surgery, a piece of vein is taken from the leg or artery from the chest or wrist. This is attached to the...
According to the America Heart Association's statistics on heart disease, about 1.3 million Americans have coronary artery disease (CAD). More than half of those die before getting adequate medical treatment. The Framingham Heart Study and the...
It can take decades for an artery to become blocked. However, once a blockage exists, symptoms like shortness of breath and chest pain can signal reduced blood flow to the heart, a symptom of coronary artery disease. Treatments depend on the...
When the arteries become blocked from blood clots or plaque, the outcome can be deadly. A potentially more serious problem than the narrowing of a coronary artery from plaque or a blood clot is the tendency of plaque to rupture and promote the...
Quadriplegia, also known as tertraplegia, refers to a spinal cord injury above the first thoracic vertebra or neck, resulting in paralysis in all four limbs. In addition to paralysis of the arms and legs, the chest and abdominal muscles are also...
Heart arteries and veins carry blood to and from the heart muscle cells. The heart pushes oxygen-rich blood into the arteries supplying the heart muscle itself. The heart arteries are a few of the first vessels to receive oxygen-rich blood coming...
In 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States. A common treatment option for those with severe heart disease is coronary artery bypass graft surgery. The...
CABG stands for coronary artery bypass grafting, an open-heart surgery for advanced stages of coronary artery blockage. Surgery involves removing a leg vein and creating a bridge or bypass between your aorta and blocked arteries in order to...
