This information is for reference only. It is not a substitute for medical advice and you should contact your Physician if you require medical advice. Always consult your physician before making any changes to your treatment plans.
- Acute Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack)
A heart attack is when blood vessels that supply blood to the heart are blocked, preventing enough oxygen from getting to the heart. The heart muscle dies or becomes permanently damaged. Your doctor calls this a myocardial infarction.
Source & More Information: MedlinePlus - Angina Pectoris (Chest Pain)
Angina pectoris is the medical term for chest pain or discomfort due to coronary heart disease. Angina is a symptom of a condition called myocardial ischemia. It occurs when the heart muscle (myocardium) doesn’t get as much blood (hence as much oxygen) as it needs.
Source & More Information: American Heart Association - Cardiac Arrest
The heart has an internal electrical system that controls the rhythm of the heartbeat. Problems can cause abnormal heart rhythms, called arrhythmias. There are many types of arrhythmia. During an arrhythmia, the heart can beat too fast, too slow, or it can stop beating. Sudden cardiac arrest occurs when the heart develops an arrhythmia that causes it to stop beating. This is different than a heart attack, where the heart usually continues to beat but blood flow to the heart is blocked.
There are many possible causes of cardiac arrest. They include coronary heart disease, heart attack, electrocution, drowning, or choking. There may not be a known cause to the cardiac arrest.
Without medical attention, the person will die within a few minutes. People are less likely to die if they have early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation. Defibrillation is delivering an electric shock to restore the heart rhythm to normal.
Source & More Information: MedlinePlus - Cardiac dysrhythmia (Arrhythmia)
Has your heart ever skipped a beat? Sometimes it really does if you have an arrhythmia. An arrhythmia is any disorder of your heart rate or rhythm. It means that your heart beats too quickly, too slowly or with an irregular pattern. When the heart beats faster than normal, it is called tachycardia. When the heart beats too slowly, it is called bradycardia.
Many factors can affect your heart’s rhythm, such as having had a heart attack, blood chemistry imbalances or abnormal hormone levels. Some substances or medicines may also cause arrhythmias.
Symptoms of arrhythmias include
- Fast or slow heart beat
- Skipping beats
- Lightheadedness, dizziness
- Chest pain
- Shortness of breath
- Paleness
- Sweating
Your doctor can run tests to find out if you have an arrhythmia. Treatment to restore a normal heart rhythm may include medicines, an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) or a pacemaker.
Source & More Information: MedlinePlus - Cardiomyopathy
Cardiomyopathy refers to diseases of the heart muscle. These diseases enlarge your heart muscle or make it thicker and more rigid than normal. In rare cases, scar tissue replaces the muscle tissue.
Some people live long, healthy lives with cardiomyopathy. Some people don’t even realize they have it. In others, however, it can make the heart less able to pump blood through the body. This can cause serious complications, including
- Heart failure
- Abnormal heart rhythms
- Fluid buildup in your lungs or legs
- Endocarditis, an inflammation of the heart lining
Heart attacks, high blood pressure or infections can all cause cardiomyopathy. Some types of cardiomyopathy run in families. In many people, however, the cause is unknown. Treatment might involve medicines, surgery, other medical procedures and lifestyle changes.
Source & More Information: MedlinePlus - Carotid Artery Disease
Your carotid arteries are two large blood vessels in your neck. They supply your brain with blood. If you have carotid artery disease, the arteries become narrow, usually because of atherosclerosis. This is the buildudiv of cholesterol and other material in an artery. If a blood clot sticks in the narrowed arteries, blood can’t reach your brain. This is one of the causes of stroke.
Carotid artery disease often does not cause symptoms, but there are tests that can tell your doctor if you have it. If the arteries are very narrow, you may need an operation called an endarterectomy to remove the plaque. For less severe narrowing, a medicine to prevent blood clots can reduce your risk of stroke. Another option for people who can’t have surgery is carotid angioplasty. This involves placing balloons and/or stents into the artery to open it and hold it open.
Source & More Information: MedlinePlus - Coronary Artery Disease
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common type of heart disease. It is the leading cause of death in the United States in both men and women.
CAD happens when the arteries that supply blood to heart muscle become hardened and narrowed. This is due to the buildup of cholesterol and other material, called plaque, on their inner walls. This buildup is called atherosclerosis. As it grows, less blood can flow through the arteries. As a result, the heart muscle can’t get the blood or oxygen it needs. This can lead to chest pain (angina) or a heart attack. Most heart attacks happen when a blood clot suddenly cuts off the hearts’ blood supply, causing permanent heart damage.
Over time, CAD can also weaken the heart muscle and contribute to heart failure and arrhythmias. Heart failure means the heart can’t pump blood well to the rest of the body. Arrhythmias are changes in the normal beating rhythm of the heart.
Source & More Information: MedlinePlus - Endocarditis
Endocarditis is an inflammation of your heart’s inner lining. The most common type, bacterial endocarditis, occurs when germs enter your heart. These germs come through your bloodstream from another part of your body, often your mouth. Bacterial endocarditis can damage your heart valves. If untreated, it can be life-threatening. It is rare in healthy hearts.
Source & More Information: MedlinePlus - Heart Block
Heart block is a problem that occurs with the heart’s electrical system. This system controls the rate and rhythm of heartbeats. (“Rate” refers to the number of times your heart beats in a minute. “Rhythm” refers to the pattern of regular or irregular pulses produced when the heart beats over time.)
With each heartbeat, an electrical signal spreads across the heart from the upper to the lower chambers. As it travels, the signal causes the heart to contract and pump blood. This process repeats with each new heartbeat.
Heart block occurs if the electrical signal is slowed or disrupted as it moves from the upper to the lower chambers of the heart.
Source & More Information: National Heart Lung and Blood Institute - Heart Failure
Heart failure is a condition in which the heart can’t pump enough blood throughout the body. Heart failure does not mean that your heart has stopped or is about to stop working. It means that your heart is not able to pump blood the way it should.
The weakening of the heart’s pumping ability causes
- Blood and fluid to back up into the lungs
- The buildup of fluid in the feet, ankles and legs – called edema
- Tiredness and shortness of breath
The leading causes of heart failure are coronary artery disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.
Treatment includes treating the underlying cause of your heart failure, medicines, and heart transplantation if other treatments fail.
Heart failure is a serious condition. About 5 million people in the U.S. have heart failure. It contributes to 300,000 deaths each year.
Source & More Information: MedlinePlus - Heart Valve Diseases
Your heart has four valves. Normally, these valves open to let blood flow through or out of your heart, and then shut to keep it from flowing backward. But sometimes they don’t work properly. What can happen?
- Blood can leak back through the valve in the wrong direction, which is called regurgitation
- One of the valves, the mitral valve, sometimes has “floppy” flaps and doesn’t close tightly. This is called mitral valve prolapse, and it’s one of the most common heart valve conditions. Sometimes it causes regurgitation
- When the valve doesn’t open enough, which blocks blood flow, it is called stenosis
Valve problems can be present at birth or caused by infections, heart attacks, or heart disease or damage. Some valve problems are minor and do not need treatment. Others might require medicine, medical procedures or surgery to repair or replace the valve.
Source & More Information: MedlinePlus - Hypertension
Also called: High Blood Pressure
Blood pressure is the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your arteries. Each time your heart beats, it pumps out blood into the arteries. Your blood pressure is highest when your heart beats, pumping the blood. This is called systolic pressure. When your heart is at rest, between beats, your blood pressure falls. This is the diastolic pressure.
Your blood pressure reading uses these two numbers, the systolic and diastolic pressures. Usually they are written one above or before the other. A reading of
- 120/80 or lower is normal blood pressure
- 140/90 or higher is high blood pressure
- Between 120 and 139 for the top number, or between 80 and 89 for the bottom number is prehypertension
High blood pressure usually has no symptoms, but it can cause serious problems such as stroke, heart failure, heart attack and kidney failure. You can control high blood pressure through healthy lifestyle habits and taking medicines, if needed.
Source & More Information: MedlinePlus - Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
Also called: Cardiomyopathy
Cardiomyopathy refers to diseases of the heart muscle. These diseases enlarge your heart muscle or make it thicker and more rigid than normal. In rare cases, scar tissue replaces the muscle tissue.
Some people live long, healthy lives with cardiomyopathy. Some people don’t even realize they have it. In others, however, it can make the heart less able to pump blood through the body. This can cause serious complications, including
- Heart failure
- Abnormal heart rhythms
- Fluid buildup in your lungs or legs
- Endocarditis, an inflammation of the heart lining
Heart attacks, high blood pressure or infections can all cause cardiomyopathy. Some types of cardiomyopathy run in families. In many people, however, the cause is unknown. Treatment might involve medicines, surgery, other medical procedures and lifestyle changes.
Source & More Information: MedlinePlus - Lipid Disorder
The medical term for high blood cholesterol and triglycerides is lipid disorder. Such a disorder occurs when you have too many fatty substances in your blood. These substances include cholesterol and triglycerides.
Source & More Information: MedlinePlus - Mitral Valve Prolapse
Mitral valve prolapse is a heart problem in which the valve that separates the upper and lower chambers of the left side of the heart does not close properly.
Source & More Information: MedlinePlus - Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO)
While a baby grows in the womb, there is a normal opening between the left and right atria (upper chambers) of the heart. If this opening fails to close naturally soon after the baby is born, the hole is called patent foramen ovale (PFO).
Source & More Information: MedlinePlus - Pericardial Disorders
The pericardium is a membrane, or sac, that surrounds your heart. It holds the heart in place and helps it work properly. Problems with the pericardium include:
- Pericarditis, an inflammation of the sac. It can be from a virus or other infection, a heart attack, heart surgery, other medical conditions, injuries, and certain medicines.
- Pericardial effusion, the buildup of fluid in the sac Cardiac tamponade, a serious problem in which buildup of fluid in the sac causes problems with the function of the heart
Symptoms of pericardial problems include chest pain, rapid heartbeat and difficulty breathing. Fever is a common symptom of acute pericarditis. Treatment depends on the cause.
Source & More Information: MedlinePlus - Pulmonary Embolism
A pulmonary embolism is a sudden blockage in a lung artery. The cause is usually a blood clot in the leg called a deep vein thrombosis that breaks loose and travels through the bloodstream to the lung. Pulmonary embolism is a serious condition that can cause
- Permanent damage to the affected lung
- Low oxygen levels in your blood
- Damage to other organs in your body from not getting enough oxygen
If a clot is large, or if there are many clots, pulmonary embolism can cause death.
Half the people who have pulmonary embolism have no symptoms. If you do have symptoms, they can include shortness of breath, chest pain or coughing up blood. Symptoms of a blood clot include warmth, swelling, pain, tenderness and redness of the leg. The goal of treatment is to break up clots and help keep other clots from forming.
Source & More Information: MedlinePlus - Pulmonary Hypertension
Pulmonary hypertension is high blood pressure in the arteries to your lungs. It is a serious condition for which there are treatments but no cure. If you have it, the blood vessels that carry oxygen-poor blood from your heart to your lungs become hard and narrow. Your heart has to work harder to pump the blood through. Over time, your heart weakens and cannot do its job and you can develop heart failure.
There are two main kinds of pulmonary hypertension. One runs in families or appears for no known reason. The other kind is related to another condition, usually heart or lung disease.
Treating pulmonary hypertension involves treating the heart or lung disease, medicines, oxygen and sometimes lung transplantation.
Source & More Information: MedlinePlus - Renal Artery Stenosis
Renal artery stenosis is a narrowing or blockage of the artery that supplies blood to the kidneys.
The most common cause of renal artery stenosis is hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) from high cholesterol.
- Atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) occurs when a sticky, fatty substance called plaque builds up on the inner lining of the arteries. The plaque may slowly narrow or even block the renal (kidney) aretery.
- Risk factors for atherosclerosis are: high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, high cholesterol, heavy alcohol use, cocaine abuse, and increasing age.
Fibromuscular dysplasia is another cause of renal artery stenosis, particularly in women under age 50. It tends to run in families. Fibromuscular dysplasia is caused by abnormal growth or development of cells in the walls of the arteries leading to the kidneys. This also leads to narrowing or blockage of these arteries.
Source & More Information: MedlinePlus