Heart Disease

Heart disease is not just heart disease. Heart disease can actually mean many things. In general, the term can refer to coronary heart disease, hypertension, congenital heart disease, heart failure, disorders with the heart valves, heart infections, cardiomyopathy, conduction disorders and heart arrhythmias.

Many forms of heart disease usually occur due to a change in how blood gets to the heart. Oftentimes plaque builds up in the arteries and restricts blood flow to the heart. This plaque can also restrict oxygen flow to the heart. This type of heart problem is known as coronary heart disease and it is one of the most common forms of heart disease.

Heart disease is a significant cause of premature death amongst people. In fact, in the United States, it is the leading cause of death. In 2007, statistics showed that one person dies every 34 seconds from heart disease in the U.S. alone. While heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and a very significant cause of death in many other countries, it is also one of the most preventable diseases. Prevention is all about lifestyle. Risk factors for developing heart disease include smoking, a sedentary lifestyle, high blood pressure, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, and also a genetic predisposition. One's lifestyle and diet can combat most of these factors. Regular exercise can lower levels of bad cholesterol in the body (LDL cholesterol) and raise levels of good cholesterol (HDL). Exercise also works to strengthen the heart so that it becomes better at pumping blood throughout the body. Eating a healthy diet that contains more vegetables, fruits, low fat milk, grains, and seafood, and poultry will also help greatly. Generally your goal with diet is to replace fatty and salty foods with foods that are high in fiber and healthy.

If you are already a person who may develop heart disease, science is developing new kinds of treatments and strategies all of the time. Researchers are now looking into stem-cell-based therapies. This is an option for treating heart damage after a heart attack has occurred. Right now the treatment has proven successful in mice. Human trials are still in development. Scientist are also getting much closer to understanding why some people are more genetically inclined to develop heart disease. In a recent study, researchers were able to reveal several genetic variants that were linked to increased risk of heart disease. In battling this life threatening disease, prevention is key, but if you are already having some symptoms, there are many treatments available, and new breakthroughs are always being made in the prevention of heart disease.