Understanding Congenital Heart Disease

The heart is the most important part of one’s body; it ensures blood circulation throughout the body, without which life would not be possible. Medicine has advanced greatly and, with modern technology, almost all heart diseases can be treated successfully if detected in time.

What is Congenital Heart Disease

Congenital heart disease, or CHD, is a malformation of the heart or a large blood vessel near the heart. Congenital heart disease is a condition that one is born with and it is one of the most common forms of major birth defects in newborns, affecting approximately 8% per 1000 infants. It is normally diagnosed within one week from birth in 40-50% of congenital heart disease cases.

This condition is not a problem until after birth, as the blood circulation differs from that after birth. The fetal circulation derives oxygen and nutrients from the mother through the placenta, and the fetal circulation has important communications between the upper heart chambers and the great blood vessels near the heart. Consequently, most types of congenital heart disease are well tolerated during fetal life.

The Cause of Congenital Heart Disease

This disease can have different causes such as:

- Environmental factors such as chemicals or drugs are sometimes to blame. For example, if a mother-to-be catches measles or rubella during pregnancy, the infection can impair the development of the unborn baby’s heart or other organs. Similar effects can take place if the mother-to-be consumes alcohol during pregnancy.
- Maternal diseases for the mother can increase the risks of developing congenital heart disease in the unborn baby.
- Chromosome abnormalities – a common chromosome abnormality causing congenital heart disease is Down’s syndrome where an extra #21 chromosome is present. About 50% of children with Down’s syndrome also have CHD.

Treating Congenital Heart Disease

The treatment depends from person to person due to the huge difference in occurrence from case to case. Everything needs to be taken into consideration in order to follow an effective treatment program.

A treatment program can only be decided after proper diagnosis made by a specialist. While eating healthy and exercising always helps, congenital heart disease is a special case which needs to follow strict doctor’s instructions; no self medication or treatment is advised. Information and guidelines are available both online and in the doctor’s office to help one educate themselves in order

The Cause of Heart Disease is Not Your Parents

If your mother and your father had heart disease, and their parents before them, you may feel doomed to heart failure. While it is true that heredity is a cause of heart disease, it is only a factor among many others. One recent study even says heredity accounts for less than 10% of a person’s risk of developing heart disease.

So, What is the Other 90%?

Doctors do not agree on the number one cause of heart disease, but smoking, obesity, and high cholesterol are the frontrunners in any study.

The chemicals in cigarettes damage artery walls, making it easier for cholesterol deposits to build an unhealthy, blood-blocking home in the body. Smoking also makes platelets, the component of blood that causes clotting, to be more active, and hence the risk of a killer clot rises.

A body needs cholesterol and can actually produce all it needs, so when we ingest foods high in cholesterols, like dairy and meat products, our bodies get a lot more cholesterol than they need. The body saves cholesterol instead of excreting it, and that cholesterol gets stored along the walls of the arteries. Too many cholesterol deposits lead to artery blockage and clots.

High blood pressure is also a major cause of heart disease. Imagine this, your arteries are narrowed because of all that cholesterol stored in there, yet your body is the same size and needs the same amount of blood; so your heart is trying to pump a lot of blood through a passage that is getting too small. Just as the motor of an air conditioner can get worn out trying to push air through a filter that no one has cleaned, your heart can overtax itself trying to force blood through blocked passages.

Obesity, not just because of all the health problems that come with it, is another cause of heart disease. Often obesity comes with high cholesterol and blood pressure, which we know increase the risk of heart disease, but new studies are also showing a correlation between abdominal fat and heart disease in a way that is not yet fully understood. Either way, as the circumference of stomach increases, the risk of heart disease seems to increase more.

Also, stress causes an overall decline in health and is particularly associated with heart disease. So, unless your parents are stressing you out enough to cause a heart attack, they are not the cause of heart disease.

Top Health Concern Today: Heart Disease

Whether or not you know it already, heart disease is a general term that encompasses a variety of medical issues related to the heart. Any one of a variety of factors might trigger heart disease in a person, meaning that they have acquired one of dozens of heart related ailments, from hypertensive heart disease (which is caused by high blood pressure) to coronary heart disease. Coronary heart disease is the type of heart disease that generally affects people, and it is caused by accumulative buildup in the coronary arteries of the heart.

The number of people in the United States who suffer from heart disease is astounding. Just shy of 100,000 American people die every year from one form of heart disease or another, about one every 40 seconds.

High blood pressure and high cholesterol are two of the controlling factors that can lead to heart disease in people of any age, although the target age for heart disease is about 60 or older. Hundreds of thousands of people live with heart disease in the United States every year, and with proper treatment, those who suffer from heart disease can live long, healthy lives.

Science has done wonders for people who suffer from heart disease, and has even advanced to the point where they can help to pin point some human behaviors that drastically increase one’s chance of contracting a heart disease. For example, smoking cigarettes and using any tobacco products are one of the worst things you can do for your health. This combined with obesity and/or lack of regular, consistent and beneficial exercise can definitely lead to heart problems.

To avoid heart disease, be sure to avoid drugs and alcohol. Exercise on a regular basis, as much as you possibly can, at least and eat foods that are rich in the fruits and vegetables that are so jam packed with the vitamins and minerals your body needs to function efficiently.

African Americans are at an increased risk for heart disease. African-American men and women above the age of 50 are the target group for heart disease, and it kills people all over, regardless of age or sex, marital status or income level. If you take the necessary steps to care for yourself, eat healthy foods, maintain a healthy weight level, and stay active, you have the necessary tools to guard yourself against life threatening heart diseases.

In addition to the African American population, women seem to be at an increased risk of getting heart disease as of late. Science is still in the process of fully figuring this out, as women and men have a host of different hormones and lead completely different types of lifestyles, so finding a common determining factor has as yet proven to be rather difficult.

Simple lifestyle changes can help prevent coronary and heart diseases in people of all ages. Heart disease is not something you have to worry about if you take the proper steps to take care of yourself and your body.

Congestive Heart Disease- The Risk Factors

Approximately five million Americans are affected by Congestive Heart Diseae, and it is considered by some medical professionals that within five years time approximately half of those people will regrettably die from the condition. Congestive heart disease is marked by the heart’s inability to pump efficiently enough to supply the body with freshly oxygenated blood. It is the leading cause of hospitalization among senior citizens and accounted for nearly 20% of the hospitalization of this age group in 2003.

Since congestive heart disease is a condition that warrants attention, a brief discussion of some of the risk factors might be in order. While some of these factors cannot be helped, there are many things a person can change about their lives to reduce the risk.

Unavoidable Risk Factors

There are a number of risk factors for congestive heart disease that simply can’t be avoided. One such factor is a previous heart attack, and advanced age, specifically over the age of 65, is another common factor for this condition. Another, of course, is a history of diabetes. Both these factors, although treatable cannot be reversed, and if you have had one of these medical conditions, there is a distinct possibility that congestive heart disease might be a condition to watch out for.

Another risk factor that cannot be changed when dealing with congestive heart disease is having a genetic disposition to the disease. Genetic testing and knowledge of the complete family history can go a long way in indicating whether or not congestive heart disease is something that should be a concern for you.

Avoidable Risk Factors

While some factors that indicate the potential for congestive heart disease cannot be helped, there are a number that can. These factors include such things as chronic high blood pressure, drug or alcohol abuse, thyroid disease, and even heart valve disease. All these risk factors, especially drug and alcohol abuse can be managed with help from your medical professional or friendly neighborhood physician. The best course of action is talk to your doctor to design a plan to attack congestive heart disease and hopefully stop it from affecting your life.

Unfortunately, congestive heart disease is difficult to diagnose because it often occurs as a result of or in conjunction with other forms of heart disease. Perhaps the best hope for patients with this disease is to be aware of the condition,catch it early and begin treatment as soon as possible. You should discuss the possibility of congestive heart disease with your medical professional.

What Everyone Should Know About Women and Heart Disease

When we think of a victim of heart disease, we tend to think of men, but unfortunately, heart disease is the leading killer of both men and women in the United States. Heart disease includes the narrowing of the arteries that bring oxygen to the heart, heart failure, diseases of the heart muscles, inborn defects, and other conditions. Five hundred thousand American women die each year from heart diseases, and the risks increase as a woman ages.

The Change of Life

The Cleveland Clinic Heart Center explains that menopause changes the risks for women and heart disease. Post-menopause, a woman’s body experiences reduced estrogen production, changes in cholesterol levels, changes in the structure of blood vessels, and increased production of the clotting agent fibrinogen.

No one yet knows exactly how much a woman’s risk is affected by each of these changes, but they are definitely associated with greater heart disease risk. Women who have gone through menopause are two to three times more likely to suffer heart disease than a pre-menopausal woman of the same age. Women that have had a hysterectomy experience these same raised risk factors.

In the past, scientists studying women and heart disease hypothesized that hormone replacement therapy could help post-menopausal women fight heart disease; however, long-term studies do not confirm that preliminary idea and doctors no longer recommend hormone replacement therapy to battle heart disease. Menopause we cannot change, but other risk factors are under our control.

Using hormonal birth control (the pill or the patch) is considered safe for women under thirty-five. As of now, doctors do not have proof that birth control hormones can increase or decrease problems for women and heart disease, especially after the age of thirty-five. When talking about your heart disease risk factors with your doctor, get his or her opinion on your personal situation.

A Change of Lifestyle

Scientists studying women and heart disease find that women are knowledgeable about what lifestyles are associated with heart disease, but are also prone to having those lifestyles. For example, according to the National Institutes of Health, fifty-six million American women have high cholesterol, 33% of women have high blood pressure, and 62% of women are overweight. Despite these risks, women are less physically active than men, on average.

For women, as for men, there are a few good guidelines to a healthier heart. Habits such as not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight by regular activity or exercise, cutting down on the fatty foods, and getting your cholesterol tested can dramatically help prevent heart disease. Don’t become another statistic about women and heart disease.

Rheumatic Heart Disease is Treatable

Rheumatic heart disease, also called rheumatic fever, occurs when an untreated strep throat infection migrates to the joints and heart, causing fever, muscle aches, and possible permanent heart valve damage. Just as “rheumatism” refers to joint pain, “rheumatic” fever gets its name because one of its main symptoms is actually pain in the joints rather than the heart.

The National Institute of Health estimate that rheumatic heart disease develops in about 3% of untreated strep throat infections in the United States. Because mainly young people get strep, accordingly rheumatic heart disease mostly strikes people aged between six and fifteen years old.

Most people in the west who get strep will never develop rheumatic heart disease, because the strep throat infection is treated effectively with antibiotics. However, if fever, irregular heart beat, nodes under the skin, and other symptoms appear after a strep infection, a doctor will perform lab tests to diagnose rheumatic fever.

Penicillin treats rheumatic heart disease symptoms, including the contraction of the heart, which may damage heart valves; however, there is no cure for the disease, and patients must continue with penicillin injections. Some doctors argue this treatment should continue for the rest of the patient’s life. Left untreated, besides the symptoms of physical pain, rheumatic heart disease can cause permanent heart valve damage. Without surgery, heart valve damage can lead to fatal heart failure.

Cases And Treatment Worldwide

Doctors working with the Australian National Heart Foundation are working on a vaccine to prevent rheumatic fever. After an unexplained jump in the number of cases among the Aboriginal population of Australia from 2004 to 2006, doctors launched the world’s most advanced investigation of rheumatic heart disease.

In New Zealand as well, rheumatic fever is a problem among some populations, and the treatment there is penicillin shots every month for ten years. One famous rugby player, a childhood victim of rheumatic heart disease, admits to “getting lazy” about having his shots, and the symptoms of the disease returned to him as an adult. Luckily, he knew his problem and how to get help. Some people, especially those with little access to health care, simply suffer through fever attacks, and fall victim to heart valve failure.

In fact, the World Heart Federation in Geneva, Switzerland calls rheumatic fever a disease born of poverty. Though it is easily prevented by a good strep throat treatment, many young people of the world do not have access to the healthcare that would keep their heart valves healthy and extend their lives.

Turn Back Time: Reversing Heart Disease

Reversing heart disease can be done by adopting a few lifestyle changes. By avoiding certain risk factors that put you in harm’s way of the disease to begin with, you can turn back the clock, so to speak, and continue to live a long, healthy life despite having a heart disease.

There are many different kinds of heart disease, but one of the factors that leads to most heart disease is a blockage to the arteries that feed blood to the heart. When the heart no longer gets a fresh supply of blood, it can die, and the result is a heart attack. By unclogging these arteries, you are essentially reversing heart disease and, therefore, healing your heart.

How You Can Reverse Heart Disease

Diets high in saturated fats and cholesterol can contribute to the blockage that causes most diseases of the heart. Reversing heart disease can be as simple as cleaning up your diet, by eating more fruits and vegetables, foods with a higher fiber content, and staying away from foods with too much saturated fat. By changing to a cleaner diet, you are one step closer to reversing a heart disease that has already claimed so many lives.

Another technique that works in reversing heart disease is getting more exercise. When you exercise, you increase your cardiovascular health, and your heart begins to work better. Exercise can be had anywhere, anytime, simply walk instead of drive your car, take the stairs instead of the elevator, or just walk around the block every night after dinner.

A more drastic move for reversing heart disease is surgery. Surgeons have been able to unblock arteries or bypass clogged arteries to improve blood flow to the heart. In many cases, surgery helps those who are afflicted with this horrible disease; however, for surgery to be effective, the heart disease must be caught early, just like most other diseases. Surgery can be an effective means for reversing heart disease, but the most effective way is to adopt good living habits once you find out you have it.

By adopting good living habits, eating right, getting more exercise, and reducing stress levels, you can go on to live a long, healthy, productive life even if you already have heart disease. Reversing heart disease does not need to inhibit your life or hold you back in any way; instead, by adopting good living habits, you can improve your life by turning back time to look and feel better.

Doctor Approved Ways to Prevent Heart Disease

Today’s modern medicine has made great strides in determining the causes of heart diseases, as well as ways to treat and prevent it. Just fifty years ago, most people didn’t go to the doctor unless they were sick, and the medical profession itself didn’t really warn its patients about heart disease, unless the person showed serious signs of it or had a close family member with the disease. Now, thankfully, a much more pro-active approach is taken by both the patient and the doctor in preventing heart disease, as well as treating it.

An Ounce of Prevention

Perhaps one of the best ways to prevent heart disease is to change the patient’s outlook on diet and exercise. It has been shown, time and time again, by such medical groups as the American Medical Association and the American Heart Association that a diet low in fat and low in calories is a great way to lower a person’s cholesterol, which is a major risk factor when it comes to heart disease. Add to that a regular doctor approved exercise routine and regular monitoring by the family doctor, and you will be an active participant in the battle to prevent heart disease.

One thing to always remember, of course, is that you and your doctor should be a team in the challenge to prevent heart disease. Routine monitoring of such things as your blood pressure, cholesterol level, general weight and health, as well as indications of other diseases that might complicate the situation are all very important things that both you and your chosen medical professional should be on the look out for. So, even if you’re not overly concerned about preventing heart disease, see your doctor on a regular basis and talk with them. Depending on what is uncovered, you can possibly get a head start on your race to prevent heart disease.

When Exercise and Diet Aren’t Enough

While good diet and regular exercise are great ways to help prevent heart disease, sometimes they simply aren’t enough. Occasionally, your doctor will prescribe different medicines, to help with the battle. The most common ones are those that either help regulate and lower high blood pressure or help the body process and lower the concentrations of cholesterol. Whether or not prescription drugs are needed for your situation should be decided after a serious consultation with your doctor and some monitoring of your health and lifestyle. There are many drugs out there to help prevent heart disease, and your doctor can discuss all the options available.

Trying to prevent heart disease is definitely something that should be on the forefront of everyone’s mind. It is one of the leading killers of both men and women in the United States today. By working with your doctor, and following a sensible low fat diet and exercise plan, your efforts to prevent heart disease will not be in vain.