Heart disease

Heart disease
Classification and external resources
MeSH D006331

Heart disease is an umbrella term for a variety for different diseases affecting the heart. As of 2007, it is the leading cause of death in the United States,[1][2] England, Canada and Wales,[3] killing one person every 34 seconds in the United States alone.[4]

Contents

Types of heart disease

Coronary heart disease

Main article: Coronary heart disease

Coronary artery disease is a disease of the artery caused by the accumulation of atheromatous plaques within the walls of the arteries that supply the myocardium. Angina pectoris (chest pain) and myocardial infarction (heart attack) are symptoms of and conditions caused by coronary heart disease.

Over 459,000 Americans die of coronary heart disease every year[5]. In the United Kingdom, 101,000 deaths annually are due to coronary heart disease.[6]

Cardiomyopathy

Main article: Cardiomyopathy

Cardiomyopathy literally means "heart muscle disease" (Myo= muscle, pathy= disease) It is the deterioration of the function of the myocardium (i.e., the actual heart muscle) for any reason. People with cardiomyopathy are often at risk of arrhythmia and/or sudden cardiac death.

Cardiovascular disease

Cardiovascular disease is 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. Research on disease dimorphism suggests that women who suffer with cardiovascular disease usually suffer from forms that affect the blood vessels while men usually suffer from forms that affect the heart muscle itself. Known or associated causes of cardiovascular disease include diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperhomocysteinemia and hypercholesterolemia.

Types of cardiovascular disease include:

Ischaemic heart disease

Heart failure

Main article: Heart failure

Heart failure, also called congestive heart failure (or CHF), and congestive cardiac failure (CCF), is a condition that can result from any structural or functional cardiac disorder that impairs the ability of the heart to fill with or pump a sufficient amount of blood throughout the body.

Hypertensive heart disease

Main article: Hypertensive heart disease

Hypertensive heart disease is heart disease caused by high blood pressure, especially localised high blood pressure. Conditions that can be caused by hypertensive heart disease include:

Inflammatory heart disease

Inflammatory heart disease involves inflammation of the heart muscle and/or the tissue surrounding it.

Valvular heart disease

Main article: Valvular heart disease

Valvular heart disease is disease process that has one tube valves of the heart. The valves in the right side of the heart are the tricuspid valve and the pulmonic valve. The valves in the left side of the heart are the mitral valve and the aortic valve.

See also

References

  1. Division of Vital Statistics; Arialdi M. Miniño, M.P.H., Melonie P. Heron, Ph.D., Sherry L. Murphy, B.S., Kenneth D. Kochanek, M.A. (2007-08-21). "Deaths: Final data for 2004" (PDF). National Vital Statistics Reports (United States: Center for Disease Control) 55 (19): 7. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr55/nvsr55_19.pdf. Retrieved on 2007-12-30. 
  2. White House News, American Heart Month, 2007, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/02/20070201-2.html, retrieved on 2007-07-16 
  3. National Statistics Press Release 25 May 2006
  4. Hitti, Miranda (2004-12-07). "Heart Disease Kills Every 34 Seconds in U.S.", Fox News - WebMD. Retrieved on 2007-12-30. 
  5. American Heart Association:And if they didn't smoke that number would be way way way down!?! Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics-2008 Update. AHA, Dallas, Texas, 2008
  6. British Heart Statistics report

External links