Left Ventricular Hypertrophy

Left Ventricular Hypertrophy

Left ventricular hypertrophy is the action of getting thickened the muscle of the left ventricle of the heart. Left ventricular hypertrophy is the natural result of the excessive strength straining and aerobic exercises. But the medical references prefer to regard it as the natural reaction of the heart to the cardiovascular disease. It is, basically, one of the types of heart disease.

The most amazing thing is that, left ventricular hypertrophy, by itself, is hardly considered as a severe disease, or at all a disease. But , the fact remains that it is the cause of a number of diseases that often turn to be quite serious. It can cause some diseases like Dilated Cardiomyopathy and Hypertropic Cardiomyopathy, that affect the muscles of the heart, and even leads to a sudden death of the affected person.

Left ventricular hypertrophy also causes tremendously high blood pressure. The very health problems and the health hazards are the symptoms and the signs of left ventricular hypertrophy. The person affected by left ventricular hypertrophy is found to take shorter breaths, since, he or she is simply unable to take natural length of breaths. The sufferer may also feel a pain in the chest. This pain can even turn to be very acute at times. In this condition, the patient should be given immediate treatment, since, this acute pain in the chest can even result in stroke or heart attack, either a mild one or even a severe one.

If a person suffers from left ventricular hypertrophy, he or she may also have very irregular heartbeats, which is quite sure a terrible discomfort for the person who is suffering. Dizziness is another sign of left ventricular hypertrophy. The affected person feels dizzy almost all the time. In addition to that, the person also might be feeling a reeling sensation in the head. Any person who is affected by left ventricular hypertrophy, must have the symptom of fainting frequently. The duration of the fainting may not be too long. If a person is found to be showing most of the signs and symptoms, mentioned here, he or she should be immediately given proper medication under the guidance of a veteran cardio expert.

Some of the causes of left ventricular hypertrophy are aortic stenosis, aortic valve regurgitation and extreme hypertension. Farther studies in this field have revealed that the aged persons are the easier targets of left ventricular hypertrophy, since most of the people who have been victimized by left ventricular hypertrophy are aged above 55. Therefore the older you grow, the more enriched is the possibility of getting attacked by left ventricular hypertrophy.

Take care of the weight of your body. Be healthy. But, do not gain extra weight. Have the habit of doing regular physical exercises that will help you losing extra weights, if you have gained any.

If any coronary disease prevails in the heart of a person, the possibility of his getting attacked by left ventricular hypertrophy. Coronary diseases also add to the troubles of left ventricular hypertrophy.

Experiencing Heart Symptoms? Read This for Tips

Experiencing Heart Symptoms? Read This for Tips

Heart attack symptoms or also known as a myocardial infarction is the death of heart muscle from the sudden blockage of a coronary artery by a blood clot. Coronary arteries are blood vessels that supply the heart muscle with blood and oxygen. Blockage of a coronary artery deprives the heart muscle of blood and oxygen thus causing injury to the heart muscle.

This injury to the heart muscle causes chest pain and chest pressure sensation and if the blood flow is not restored to the heart muscle within 20 to 40 minutes irreversible death of the heart muscle will begin to occur. Muscle continues to die for six to eight hours at which time the heart attack usually is “complete.” The dead heart muscle is eventually replaced by scar tissue.

Heart Symptoms Causes:

Atherosclerosis is process by which plaques of cholesterol are deposited in the walls of arteries. Cholesterol plaques cause hardening of the arterial walls and narrowing of the inner channel of the artery.

Arteries that are narrowed by atherosclerosis cannot deliver enough blood to maintain normal function of the parts of the body they supply. Atherosclerosis of the arteries that furnish blood to the brain can lead to vascular dementia or stroke.

Atherosclerosis can remain silent in a lot of people for years or decades. It can begin as early as the teenage years but symptoms or health problems usually do not arise until later in adulthood when the arterial narrowing becomes severe.

Smoking cigarettes, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, and diabetes mellitus can accelerate atherosclerosis and lead to the earlier onset of symptoms and complications, particularly in those people who have a family history of early atherosclerosis.

Coronary atherosclerosis is the atherosclerosis that causes hardening and narrowing of the coronary arteries. Diseases caused by the reduced blood supply to the heart muscle from coronary atherosclerosis are called coronary heart diseases (CHD).

Coronary heart diseases include heart attacks, sudden unexpected death, chest pain (angina), abnormal heart rhythms, and heart failure due to weakening of the heart muscle.

Conclusion:

At the first sign of heart attack symptoms acting fast can save lives and limit damage to the heart. Treatment is most effective when started within 1 hour of the beginning of symptoms. If you think you or someone may be having a heart attack it is advice to call your emergency numbers within a few minutes or 5 at the most of the start of symptoms.

In case the symptoms stop completely in less than 5 minutes still call your doctor. Take a nitroglycerin pill if your doctor has prescribed this type of medicine.

If you’re looking for a natural solution to prevent heart attack and stroke, the we recommend you to check EDTA Oral Chelation Therapy, which has proven to be very effective in removing arterial plaque that accumulated on your arteries wall.

Heart Disease in Women

Heart Disease in Women

Heart disease in women is a serious issue that needs special attention. Certain factors that pertain only to women are responsible for making this group of people at risk. In the past, most physicians would typically monitor men more closely for heart disease than women. This is because, in general, it was thought that most women have a lifestyle that is less stressful than men. While this may have been true at some point in time, it is not true today. The fact that many women deal with the same stresses as men, coupled with the fact that there are a few natural causes for heart disease in women in play, means that special attention must be paid to the possibility of heart disease.

Causes of Heart Disease in Women

* Menopause. Some medical professionals feel that when a women’s body stops producing estrogen they are at greater risk for getting heart disease. There is evidence that suggests that estrogen helps to insulate a women’s body from acquiring the condition. This fact is especially true if menopause occurs due to surgery. If a women has surgery to remove the ovaries or the uterus then the chances of them getting heart disease increases significantly.

* Birth Control Pills. Women who take birth control pills put themselves at risk of getting heart disease. In an effort to protect yourself from this condition is recommended that the pills be low-dose. The lower dose will be gentler on the body, specifically the heart. With that in mind, women who are on birth control and smoke cigarettes or have high blood pressure are at a higher risk for heart disease.

* Poor lifestyle habits. Similar to men, women who are in the habit of not exercising and eating poorly are at a greater risk for getting heart disease. A lack of exercise will oftentimes be accompanied by high cholesterol. If you have high cholesterol than the chance of having a narrowing or hardening of the arteries improves. Also, eating a poor diet will mean that you are putting food into your body that can poison it. In short, fatty foods will lead to the production of plaque in the arteries which will ultimately begin to build up on the interior walls of the arteries.

Heart disease in women is a major problem in this day and age. Knowing the causes and symptoms can help you identify if there are any warning signs present.

What Causes Heart Attacks and Heart Failure

Causes of Heart Attacks

We have all heard of heart attacks, this article sheds light on what causes heart attacks. A heart attack has many causes: however one occurs due to lack of oxygen rich blood in the heart coronary arteries are the blood vessels which supply the heart with oxygen and blood, blockage of coronary arteries causes injury to heart muscle.
So what causes heart attacks ?


Atherosclerosis

This is usually a gradual process in which plaques or collections of cholesterol get deposited around artery walls. These plaques harden the artery walls, narrowing the lumen which is the inner channel of the artery. In many people, atherosclerosis can go unnoticed for years, in some cases beginning even from teenage years. The symptoms and health problems do not occur until later on in life when the narrowing of the artery becomes severe. High blood pressure, high cholesterol, cigarette smoking and diabetes are just some of the things which accelerate atherosclerosis, especially in people with a family history of heart attacks.

Artery Spasm

An artery spasm is caused by constrictions of arteries which prevent oxygen rich blood from reaching the heart. The spasms are often caused by blood clots, fatty acid build ups on the artery wall and blood clots caused by plaque. Though spasms, don’t cause heart attacks each time the artery is affected but an artery spasm can cause permanent heart damage.

Drug Use

Drugs which speed up the cardiovascular system have been known to induce heart attacks. Cocaine usage on a regular basis can cause heart attacks due to the high dosage used to achieve the high. methamphetamine's have also been known to cause heart failure.

Causes of Heart Failure

Heart failure usually occurs after other conditions have weakened and damaged the heart. Over time the heart becomes too weak to perform its duty of pumping blood to the body. The ventricles which are the heart’s pumping chambers become stiff and are unable to properly fill in between the beats. The heart muscle weakens to the point that it cannot pump blood effectively throughout the body. Heart failure begins on the left ventricle. Signs of heart failure include: fatigue, chronic coughing, a rapid/ irregular heartbeat, shortness of breath amongst other symptoms.

Heart disease is a term used to cover conditions such as coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, cardiac arrest, congenital heart diseases and heart attack.The survival rate of cardiac arrest outside hospital is less than 2%. It takes only four to six minutes after a cardiac arrest for a person to experience brain death followed by loss of life.Most heart attacks occur in the morning. Reason being the stress hormones is higher and blood is usually thicker hence harder to pump as one is partially dehydrated.
Heart disease risk factors

Most heart disease risk factors are controllable with simple lifestyle changes. Some of these include: Smoking, unhealthy diets, stress, physical fitness as well as high blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels which is a type of fat found in blood. Uncontrollable risk factors include: a family history of heart disease, age and gender.
Heart problems if left untreated can lead to death.

Having known what causes heart attacks, it is important to consult a doctor in case of any of the above signs.

What causes heart attacks? Myocardial Infractions Explained

Heart attack

Heart attack, or myocardial infarction as they are commonly referred to by doctors, occur when blood flow to a part of the heart that  is blocked for an extended period of time leading to the damage or death of tissues in that area which can lead to the heart muscles getting damaged and dying. And that is what causes heart attacks.

The main cause of heart attacks is the blockage of the coronary arteries that deliver blood to the heart. This blockage is caused mainly by the buildup of a substance called plaque which is mainly made up of cholesterol and other cells along the walls of the arteries stopping the flow of blood to the muscles starving them of oxygen and causing them to die. The actual causes of heart attacks are not well known, but they can be triggered by heavy physical activity, being active outside in the cold weather or by severe emotional and physical stress.

Causes of heart failure:

One contributing factor for heart attacks is coronary heart disease. This is governed by your heart disease risk factor. These are habits or conditions that increase your risk of getting coronary heart disease and these factors also increase the risk of coronary heart disease worsening.

The main heart disease risk factors are high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, smoking, unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity. Any one of or any combination of these factors greatly increases your likelihood of getting coronary heart disease.

Heart problems are another factor that causes heart attacks. These are related to cardiac heart disease. The main one is the clogging of the coronary arteries due to the buildup of plaque.

Heart failure is when the heart stops functioning properly leading to the heart attack. It’s caused when blood flow is restricted to the cardiac muscles; this means the muscles are deprived of oxygen which they need to function. The muscles gradually stop working and may die, this means that the heart can’t pump blood properly and hence causing heart failure.

Heart failure is normally preceded by certain signs that if spotted in time, can be vital in preventing a heart attack. The most common signs are shortness of breath, coughing or wheezing, tightness around the chest, and buildup of fluids in body tissues, dizziness, nausea, fatigue and anxiety. These signs once seen should be acted upon immediately to avert any impending heart attack.

what causes heart attacks

Here are some facts about heart attacks that show how major an issue it is;

In the US in 2008, heart attacks accounted for 616000 deaths, almost 25% of the deaths, making it the leading killer in the US. It accounts for 25.1% of the deaths in whites making it the leading cause of death among white adults and is estimated to cost the US government $108.9 billion in treatment, medication and lost productivity.

Having answered the question what causes heart attacks with these causes and signs of an impending heart attack, one sees the need to change their lifestyle to lower their risk of heart attack and live a healthy productive life.

Causes of Heart Disease

Causes of Heart Disease

Coronary artery disease, the most common form of cardiovascular disease, is one of the leading causes of death today. But thanks to many studies involving thousands of patients, researchers that have been able to shortlist certain factors that are the Causes of Heart Disease in a person. These are called risk factors. These risk factors contribute to two categories: major and contributing. The major Causes of Heart Disease are:

High Blood Pressure (Hypertension): High blood pressure increases your risk of heart disease, heart attack, and stroke. Though other risk factors can lead to high blood pressure, you can have it without having other risk factors. Blood pressure can vary with activity and with age. A healthy adult who is resting generally has a systolic pressure reading between 120 and 130 and a diastolic pressure reading between 80 and 90.

High Blood Cholesterol: this is another risk factor that causes of Heart Disease is high blood cholesterol. Cholesterol is a fat-like substance carried in your blood. This is found in all of your body cells. Your liver produces all of the cholesterol your body needs to form cell membranes and to make certain hormones. Extra cholesterol enters your body when you eat foods that come from animals

Diabetes: Heart problems are the leading cause of death among people with diabetes, especially in the case of adult-onset. If you know that you have diabetes, you should already be under a doctor's care, because good control of blood sugar levels can reduce your risk. If you think you may have diabetes but not sure, you must consult your doctor for tests.

Obesity and Overweight: Extra weight is thought to lead to increased total cholesterol levels. High blood pressure, increased risk of coronary artery disease. Obesity increases your chances of developing other risk factors for example, heart disease, especially high blood pressure, diabetes and high blood cholesterol.

Smoking: Most people realize that cigarette and tabacco smoking increases your risk of lung cancer, but fewer realize that it is one of the causes of Heart Disease and also other peripheral vascular disease.

Heredity: Heart disease tends to run in families. For example, if your siblings or parents had a heart or circulatory problem before the age of 55. But then you are at greater risk of heart disease than someone who does not have complains for heart disease in their family history.

Age: Older age is a risk factor for heart disease. In fact, about 4 out of every 5 deaths occur due to heart diseases that occur in people older than 65.

In addition to this, there are also certain contributing factor that enhances the causes of Heart Disease. They are: Stress, Sex hormones, Birth control pills and Alcohol. Stress is considered an important contributing risk factor for heart disease. The effects of behavior habits, emotional stress, and socioeconomic status on the risk of heart disease and heart attack have not been proven

Ischemic Cardiomyopathy

Ischemic Cardiomyopathy

Ischemic Cardiomyopathy is a common type of heart disease caused by the congestive heart failure due to coronary artery disease. There are many names given to this heart disease like Ischemic heart disease. This disease is one of the main causes of congestive heart failure. In United States maximum number of people suffer from this disease. This disease happens when the arteries are blocked and results in inadequate supply of blood to the oxygen. Ischemic cardiomyopathy when the cholesterol level of the body increases and create plaque in the arteries. Arteries are one of the major parts of the body which brings blood and oxygen to the body. The patients suffering from this disease can experience angina, heart attack and unstable angina. In many cases the symptoms are unnoticed which can be very dangerous in future. The reasons why this heart disease happens are obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, high fat diet, smoking, high blood pressure, etc. The symptoms of Ischemic Cardiomyopathy are breathing difficulty, decreased urine output, fatigue weakness, shortness of breath, irregular pulse, chest pain and cough.

If the patient is found with these symptoms then immediate check up is required. The patient should be frequently under medical supervision of the doctor. Tests must be done in every months to know about the status. Improper diet is also one of the main causes of ischemic cardiomyopathy. The patients of Ischemic cardiomyopathy are suggested to lay more emphasis on diet and exercise. Usually doctor perform many tests on the patients of ischemic cardiomyopathy. This disease is one of the types of cardiomyopathy. Cardiomyopathy is one of the types of heart disease in which the heart becomes enlarged and eventually results in the improper ability of muscles to pump the blood. Abnormalities in ischemic cardiomyopathy is common to see. The disease can be diagnosed physical exam and the patients medical history test. The tests done by the doctor include CT scan, radionuclide studies, cardiac catheterization, chest X-ray, MRI scan, blood tests, exercise stress test, electrocardiogram (ECG) and echocardiogram. ALL these tests are necessary to detect the risk and complications. These tests will help the doctor to see the depth of the disease. There are many medications available which will improve the heart conditions. But it is suggested to take the medications after the tests are done.

Medications for the patients of ischemic cardiomyopathy are given for two reasons to treat the symptoms and to improve the cardiac function. Whatever may be the medications and tests but if the patient improve his or her diet it can help to remove many symptoms and complications. Regular exercise and maintaining healthy diet is necessary to improve the heart condition. Some patients also undergo many therapies to improve the cardiac conditions. If the disease is extreme then emergency necessary must be done. The rate of heart patients is increasing with each year especially in developed countries. One of the main reasons for the increasing heart risk is the change in the lifestyle.

Heart attack symptoms in women over 40

Cardiovascular diseases and especially ischemic cardiomyopathy and heart attack are some
of the causes of mortality and morbidity in both women and men, but heart attack symptoms
in women over 40 may differ from those of men.
Of certain statistical date cardiovascular disease is the first cause of the mortality in women.
Risk factors for heart attack
There are several risk factors that cause different heart attack symptoms in women over 40 :

• Obesity, high blood pressure and hypercholesterolemia (increasing the percentage of fat
  in the blood) especially triglycerides.
• Another risk factor is use of oral contraceptives and
  menopause.
• A small percentage of patients who use oral contraceptives appear hypertension
  unrelated to dose contraceptive. However, patients with controlled hypertension may use
  oral contraceptives, but under supervision. If the consumption of oral contraceptives added
  smoking the risk of heart attack increase. If we compare mortality rates of cardiovascular
  disease in men and women over 40 will see a significant increase in mortality after
  menopause.

Heart attack symptoms in women over 40

Today, there are several features of heart attack symptoms in women over 40. The main heart
attack symptoms in women over 40 is not chest pain, but dyspnea which represent shortness
of breath. This symptoms may appear a few hours, days or months before heart attack
symptoms. Most minim discomfort may be an atypical sign or a symptom for heart attack.
One of these is atypical chest pain for which women do not go to the doctor only if the is
persistent and upset the patient. Sometimes heart attack symptoms in women over 40 may be
the absence of pain. Absence of pain can be attributed to nervous or mental disorders. But,
heart attack symptoms in women over 40 like atypical chest pain have a worse prognostic
then men.
Unusual fatigue is another heart attack symptoms in women over 40. This fatigue can be felt
as a state of drowsiness. Patients may not take into account this symptom believing that it is
simply missing out of sleep, an infection with a virus or adverse effect of another drug and not
present at the doctor. Patients may be associated nausea, sweating and chills.
Pain in the calf may be a sign for deep vein thrombosis which may eventually lead to heart
attack. This is another heart attack symptoms in women over 40 which occurs predominantly
in patients with hormone therapy, smokers, who just had surgery or in patients who have
been on a plane flight. If pain is sudden or gradual, patients should consult their doctor
immediately.
Other symptoms or signs for heart attack may be serious and can lead to death of patients if they are not recognized in time.
So how do you know if you have a heart attack?

At the early signs or symptoms, the patients must go to the doctor because they can be heart attack symptoms in women over 40 and their persistence can lead to death.