Gregory Smyth asked:


We are learning many things as we develop as a world and global society. One of the most important things we have realized in the last few years is that, contrary to the culture of the 1980s and 1990s, stress does not have a positive impact on your life. Stress used to mean that you were needed - you were important, everyone wanted something of you, so you were stressed. Relaxed people were often seen as being at the lower end of the career scale, and even social scale. However, there have been many recent studies which link stress to the possibility of an early death - no matter what other precautions you take against disease like chronic heart disease.

A recent European study has been widely publicized - this study followed 10,000 British civil servants, over a 12 year period. The factors they included were cortisol levels (a stress hormone), heart rate, blood pressure, diet, exercise and smoking habits - and the critical factor was how they felt about their job. In a figure which can’t be ignored, those under the age of 50 who thought that their job was stressful had a 70% greater chance of developing chronic heart disease than did those who thought they had a relatively stress free career.

We must differentiate here between good stress and bad stress. Good stress is generally considered to be stress in short bursts, which is not maintained - it can be either of the emotional or physical kind. Physical stress includes exercise - which everybody knows is a factor in preventing heart disease. It can also include short-term emotional stress, like the buzz you get from trying something new, or facing a fear. Bad stress is prolonged, low level stress - if your body is constantly exposed to high levels of Cortisol, this is when your systems can start to go astray and increase your risk of heart disease.

Cortisol is one side of the double edged sword of stress’s effect on heart disease. The other side is the fact that a stressful job often creates other lifestyle changes - people with high stress at work are less likely to choose fresh fruits and vegetables for dinner. They want fattening, sugary comfort food, and often don’t have the time to cook - eating processed food, with its hosts of ‘partially hydrogenated this’ and ‘hydrolysed that’, is recognized as a major factor in your risk of developing heart disease. Furthermore, if you spend all your time at work, and worrying about work, you are less likely to engage in exercise, which plays a critical role in reducing blood pressure and ensuring arterial walls are healthy.

However, even those that made the great effort to maintain a healthy lifestyle despite their job stress had a greatly increased risk of heart disease. The link is maintained because stress was found to upset the part of the nervous system that regulates the heart’s workings and beat. Cortisol, the stress hormone, increases blood pressure through its effect on the heart’s workings, and also suppresses the autoimmune system and increases blood sugar levels. You are more likely to get any illness when you are stressed - heart disease and diabetes are just chief among many.

To reduce your chance of ending up without a job - and in fact, without a life - reduce your stress at work. Talk to your boss about reduced demands, think about changing careers, or accept the fact that to reduce your stress you may need to reduce your income. It is all, in fact, a positive for your heart!



Anne

Peter asked:


i’m going to emergency room tomorrow to see if i have heart disease. if i do have it, will i need to stay in hospital? or they will let me out the same day? if i have to stay in hospital, how many days will i be staying?
i suspect that i have a very mild heart disease, like in the early stage….. so how many days will i need to stay in hospital for treatment?
money is no problem to me since i got it all covered by my insurance. the thing is… i don’t want to stay in hospital for too long. i mean, i have a busy life, the most i can stay is 3-4 days….. are 4 days enough to “cure” (temporarily) a heart disease

Joan

keysha asked:


~heart attack (myocardial infarction)-when a part of heart muscle is permanently damaged or actually dies because there’s not enough oxygen.

~unstable angina-is an intermediary between myocardial infarction and stable angina.It’s manifestation is a severe chest pain that lasts more than stable angina and it doesn’t respond very well to medication.

~angina-is a chest discomfort which occurs when the coronary vessels receive an inadequate blood flow.

~atherosclerosis-occurs when fatty material deposite into the arteries walls. This can lead to a blockage of the arteries.

Other risk factors for ischemic heart disease are:

~hypertension (high blood pressure)- blood pressure can vary with activity and with age, but 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 (or below).

~diabetes-heart problems are the leading cause of death among people with diabetes, especially in the case of non-insulin-dependent diabetes also known as Type II diabetes.

~high blood cholesterol-cholesterol is a fat-like substance carried in your blood.It can be found in all of your body’s cells. The 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 (meats, eggs,and other similar products).

~obesity and overweight- extra weight leads to increased total cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, and an increased risk of coronary artery disease. Obesity increases your chances of developing other risk factors for heart disease, especially high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and diabetes.

~smoking- It’s well known that smoking increases the risk of lung cancer, but few people know that it also increases the risk of heart disease and peripheral vascular disease (disease in the vessels that supply blood to the arms and legs). Smoking also raises blood pressure, which increases the risk of stroke in people who already have high blood pressure.

~birth control pills-At the beginning birth control pills contained high levels of estrogen and progestin, and taking these pills increased the chances of heart disease and stroke, especially in women older than 35 who smoked. In our days the dose of hormones contained in these pills has been lowered and they are considered safe for women younger than 35, who do not smoke or have high blood pressure.

~physical inactivity- people who exercise regularly have a lower risk of heart attack than people who are not active. Exercise burns calories, may lower blood pressure and helps to control cholesterol levels and diabetes. In addition to this exercise makes the arteries more flexible and strengthens the heart muscle.

~stress- Stressful situations raise your heart rate and blood pressure, increasing your heart’s need for oxygen. The need for oxygen can cause angina pectoris, or chest pain, in people who already have heart disease.

It’s advisable that your doctor checks your risk for heart disease at least once a year by checking your cholesterol and blood pressure levels and asking whether you smoke or have a family history of heart disease. Also he can check your urine for protein, because this represents another risk factor for heart disease.



Tracy

Daniel Sherwood asked:


What causes heart disease may be a question weigning on your minds. With more and more people dying each day from heart attacks, it is only natural that you want to know what is going on, what is causing you or a loved one’s poor health, and how to rectify the situation. I have listed some valuable information for you to read in one easy-to-read webpage. This is a free service which can be found on this link: Heart Disease Causes.

Heart disease is a somewhat loose phrase used interchangeably to describe a broad range of heart problems. Some of the illnesses that fall under the heart disease category are high blood pressure, heart attacks, heart failure, strokes and coronary artery disease. Heart disease is a leading cause of death around the world. So what ultimately causes heart disease?

Heart disease is caused by a number of factors including:

Poor diets full of saturated fats  usually from eating too much junkfood and not enough fruits and vegetables. Poor exercise habits, or no exercising at all. The heart is a muscle and needs exercise in order to maintain proper and healthy operation. Smoking is a leading cause of heart disease. Being overweight is a major factor in developing heart disease.

When your arteries harden, this places restrictions on blood flow to organs and tissues, which is what causes heart disease. This deprives your body’s organs of vital oxygen and nutrients needed to function in the right way. It should be noted that what causes heart disease is not always due to hardening of the arteries.

Some forms of heart disease are caused by other genetic or heredity diseases, such as heart valve diseases, congenital heart defects and disease, heart infections, and cardio myopathy. While some heart problems you may not be able to control, most are developed over a lifetime of unhealthy living habits. Remember, prevention is better than cure. For more information on heart disease causes feel free to visit our website.



Norman

Kins M asked:


I work in cafe and a woman refused to take a cup of coffee the other day due to a small chip in the rim (the last mug in the whole shop on a bank holiday!!). She seemed very concerned we had a chipped mug and insisted we told our boss that chipped mugs cause heart disease. I really can’t see any reason for it to cause heart disease specifically!
Anyone out there capable of enlightening me?

Jamie

The Content Group asked:


Millions of Americans suffer from it, but what really are the causes of heart disease? There is almost as many myths and misinformation about the causes of heart disease as there are actual causes. Everything from fatty foods, to high cholesterol, to lack of exercise is included in the list of causes of heart disease, but what truly belongs there? A Realistic Look At The Causes Of Heart DiseaseThe first thing to understand is the coronary heart disease is not one singular disease, but rather a combination of factors that results in a possibly deadly condition that can result in cardiac arrest. While diet and exercise do play a huge role in the disease, this role may not be nearly as prominent as doctors and scientists over the last 30 years or so have lead us to believe.One of the leading and most dangerous causes of heart disease is damage to the heart muscle or a congenital defect. Damage can be caused by a viral, bacterial, fungal, rickettsial or parasitic disease. These dangerous disease can cause a serious weakening of the heart muscle which eventually leads to heart disease.

Each of these high risk factors for heart disease are caused by situations not related to exercise or diet. That is not to say that diet and exercise are not important to cardiac health, but blaming all causes of heart disease on those factors alone is grossly incorrect.

There are literally dozens of risk factors for heart disease. The most commonly cited ones are high blood cholesterol, smoking, lack of exercise, stress, and being overweight. Of these the strongest link between to a direct cause is smoking. The other causes of heart disease do have significant bearing, but none as strong as smoking. While many may say that most smokers will exhibit the other qualities in addition to smoking, if you look at the raw data and factor out the additional causes smoking still carries the strongest correlation to heart disease. Another huge factor in heart disease is stress. Doctors have noted that heart attacks strike in the months after severe emotion trauma. Highlighted condition include death, bankruptcy, layoff, and relationship failure. In each of these situations the risk of cardiac arrest is significantly increased.While diet is important there are other factors that will effect the likelihood of developing heart disease. It is best to try eliminate or mitigate as many of the factors as you can to avoid being a high risk candidate for a heart attack.

Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) - One Form Of Heart Disease

Coronary Artery Disease is the most common example of what heart disease is. It is the leading cause of heart attacks. This is caused by hardened and narrowed arteries, which makes the heart have to work much harder to move the blood around the body.

Coronary Artery Disease can also lead to other things, like angina. Angina is the chest pain or squeezing feeling that many people experience as a sign of heart attack. Usually it is in the chest, but it can also be in the shoulders, neck, jaw, back, or arms. It can mimic indigestion. Those who are at risk for heart attack need to be extra careful if they believe they are suffering from indigestion or an upset stomach. These symptoms of angina are classic examples of what heart disease is and how it can feel. Those who have angina are more likely to have a heart attack.

Heart attacks are another byproduct of coronary artery disease. They happen when an artery is entirely or almost completely blocked and the heart is lacking sufficient blood for more than twenty minutes.

Heart Failure - Another Form Of What Heart Disease Is

If the heart can’t pump the blood around the body as well as it needs to, there can be heart failure. It isn’t that the heart has totally quit working - a common misconception - but it is that because the blood isn’t being transferred as it should be, other organs don’t get enough blood. Some symptoms include swelling in feet, legs, and ankles, shortness of breath, and extreme fatigue. If you have these symptoms, check with your doctor right away.



Clarence

ncar48 asked:


I had surgery to correct what the doctors called endocardial cushion defect, would this be considered a form of heart disease, or just a defect?

Evelyn

Hello There asked:


I have the total population for each state and then the number of deaths per 100,000 for each state should I divide the population by 100,000 then multiply that answer by the deaths per 100,000 to get an answer i.e if the population of Texas is 22,968,248 should i divide that by 100,000 and then multiply that answer by 237.8 (number of deaths per hundred thousand due to heart disease)?

Victor

Kyle J. Norton asked:


Congenital heart diseases affect any part of the heart such as heart muscle, valves, and blood vessels. Congenital heart disease refers to a problem with the heart’s structure and function due to abnormal heart development before birth.Every year over 30,000 babies are born with some type of congenital heart defect in US alone. Congenital heart disease is responsible for more deaths in the first year of life than any other birth defects. Some congenital heart diseases can be treated with medication alone, while others require one or more surgeries.

The causes of congenital heart diseases of newborns at birth may be in result from poorly controlled blood sugar levels in women having diabetes during pregnancy, some hereditary factors that play a role in congenital heart disease, excessive intake of alcohol and side affects of some drugs during pregnancy.

Congenital heart disease is often divided into two types: cyanotic which is caused by a lack of oxygen and non-cyanotic.

1. Cyanotic

Cyanosis is a blue coloration of the skin due to a lack of oxygen generated in blood vessels near the skin surface. It occurs when the oxygen level in the arterial blood falls below 85-90%.

The below lists are the most common of cyanotic congenital heart diseases:

a)Tetralogy of fallot

Tetralogy of fallot is a condition of several congenital defects that occur when the heart does not develop normally. It is the most common cynaotic heart defect and a common cause of blue baby syndrome.

b)Transportation of the great vessels

Transportation of the great vessels is the most common cyanotic congenital heart disease. Transposition of the great vessels is a congenital heart defect in which the 2 major vessels that carry blood away from the aorta and the pulmonary artery of the heart are switched. Symptoms of transportation of the great vessels include blueness of the skin, shortness of breath and poor feeding.

c)Tricuspid atresia

In tricuspid atresia there is no tricuspid valve so no blood can flow from the right atrium to the right ventricle. Symptoms of tricuspid atresia include blue tinge to the skin and lips, shortness of breath, slow growth and poor feeding.

d)Total anomalous pulmonary venous return

Total anomalous pulmonary venous return (TAPVR) is a rare congenital heart defect that causes cyanosis or blueness. Symptoms of total anomalous pulmonary venous return include poor feeding, poor growth, respiratory infections and blue skin.

e)Truncus arteriosus

Truncus arteriosus is characterized by a large ventricular septal defect over which a large, single great vessel arises. Symptoms of truncus arteriosus include blue coloring of the skin, poor feeding, poor growth and shortness of breath.

There are many more types of cyanotic such as ebstein’s anomaly, hypoplastic right heart, and hypoplastic left heart. If you need more information please consult with your doctor.

2. Non-cyanotic

Non-cyanotic heart defects are more common because of higher survival rates.

The below lists are the most common of non-cyanotic congenital heart diseases:

a)Ventricular septal defect

Ventricular septal defect is a hole in the wall between the right and left ventricles of the heart causing right and left ventricles to work harder, pumping a greater volume of blood than they normally would in result of failure of the left ventricle. Symptoms of ventricular septal defect include very fast heartbeats, sweating, poor feeding, poor weight gain and pallor.

b)Atrial septal defect

Atrial septal defect is a hole in the wall between the two upper chambers of your heart causing freshly oxygenated blood to flow from the left upper chamber of the heart into the right upper chamber of the heart. Symptoms of atrial septal defect include shortness of breath, fatigue and heart palpitations or skipped beats.

c)Coarctation of aorta

Coarctation of aorta is a narrowing of the aorta between the upper-body artery branches and the branches to the lower body causing your heart to pump harder to force blood through the narrow part of your aorta. Symptoms of coarctation of aorta include pale skin, shortness of breath and heavy sweating.

There are many more types of non-cyanotic such as pulmonic stenosis, patent ductus arteriorus, and atrioventricular cana. These problems may occur alone or together. Most congenital heart diseases occur as an isolated defect and is not associated with other diseases.

I hope this information will help. If you need more information of the above subject, please consult with your doctor or visit my home page at:

Kyle J. Norton

http://medicaladvisorjournals.blogspot.com

http://heartdiseasespartix.blogspot.com/



Patricia

keysha asked:


Ischemic heart disease is a disease characterized by reduced blood supply

to the heart.As you well know the cause of most heart diseases is hardening of the arteries or blocked arteries. Complete occlusion of the blood vessel leads to a heart attack (myocardial infarction) which involves the death of the tissue of heart’s muscle(ischemic necrosis). Most of the heart attacks are immediately fatal,unless the patients arrive at the hospital in time,in which case their chances of survival are higher. Statistics show that injections of magnesium sulfate within the first three hours of the attack has proven very efficient increasing survival by over 20%. The main objective of the medical treatment of heart attack survivors is the prevention of a second attack. The following things are recommended after a heart attack:

→Possible angioplasty or cardiac surgery.

→Possibly the regular administration of anti-coagulants to prevent further blood clot complications.

→Possibly the administration of drugs like digoxin, verapamil and amidarone to reduce heart arrhythmias although they many also induce arrhythmias.

→A daily intake of aspirin.

→Lifestyle modifications are important in prevention of a second MI; increased exercise, reduction of stress, and improved dietary considerations are perhaps most important.

Here are some very important advices that you sholud take into consideration for lowering the risk of a heart attack:stop smoking, stop eating foods which are high in fat,get some regular exercise and avoid excessive stress.

Avoidance of smoking and secondhand smoke represent a very important measure in avoiding cardiovascular disease. Studies has shown that smokers who quit lower their risk of stroke by 27% two years after stopping. Their risk reaches the level of non-smokers after about four years.

A healthy diet is the strongest protection against cardiovascular disease. A heart-healthy diet is rich in fruits and vegetables and low in saturated fat, cholesterol, meat, and sugar. It isn’t necessary to eat perfect and you don’t have to see this as a burden,but you should try to change your diet step by step,giving up the foods rich in fats and lowering your cholesterol level.

Most medical experts agree that a high total cholesterol level is a critical risk factor for cardiovascular disease and that a reduction in overall cholesterol levels is an important measure in preventing and treating atherosclerosis.

Finally,and most important,exercise is an important component in the rehabilitation of heart disease patients. Regular exercise helps prevent obesity and diabetes which are also important risk factors for heart disease.



Kristen