Cardiovascular Conditions
Cardiovascular disease is a term that refers to any of a number of specific diseases that affect the heart itself and/or the blood vessel system, especially the veins and arteries leading to and from the heart. Cardiovascular disease constitutes one of the major causes of death and disease in Western countries.
The heart is a muscle that is about the size of your fist. It pumps blood around your body and beats approximately 70 times a minute. After the blood leaves the heart, it goes to your lungs where it picks up oxygen. The oxygen-rich blood returns to your heart and is then pumped to the organs of your body through a network of arteries. The blood returns to your heart through veins before being pumped back to your lungs again. This process is called circulation. The heart gets its own supply of blood from a network of blood vessels on the surface of your heart, called coronary arteries.
Cardiovascular disease is the term that describes any condition which affects the healthy functioning of this process. Heart problems are now believed to result from a combination of genetic predisposition and lifestyle factors. Diet, exercise and smoking are now believed to be the major lifestyle contributers to the development of heart disease, stress is also now believed to be an important contributing factor.
Cardiovascular conditions arise from the weakening of the arteries pumping blood to the heart muscles, as well as weakening of the heart muscles themselves. Accumulation of fatty deposits in the arteries due to high cholesterol levels may lead to restriction of the supply of oxygen to the heart, whereas factors such as stress, high blood pressure and obesity may lead to weakening of the heart muscles, causing problems such as irregular beating of the heart and heart attacks. The heart becomes too weak to pump blood around the body, which can cause fluid to build up in the lungs, making it increasingly difficult to breath. Heart failure can happen suddenly (acute heart failure) or gradually, over a period of time (chronic heart failure).
Some cardiovascular conditions include:
- Aneurysms - a swelling that occurs in an artery or vein when its wall is weakened
- Coronary heart disease - occurs when your heart's blood supply is blocked or interrupted by a build-up of fatty substances in the coronary arteries, leading to angina and possibly heart attacks.
- Atrial fibrillation- occurs when the rhythm of beating of the upper chambers of the heart becomes irregular.
- Venous thrombo-embolism – occurs when blood clots occur and subsequently travel through the veins. These blood clots can then block the flow of blood, cutting off the supply to important organs.
- Peripheral arterial disease - occurs when plaque builds up in the arteries that carry blood to your head, organs, and limbs and limits the flow of oxygen-rich blood to your organs and other parts of your body.