December 2019

Heart disease is a term that refers to any disorder of the heart. Diseases under the heart disease include coronary artery disease, arrhythmias and congenital heart defects. The term cardiovascular disease generally refers to condition that involves the blood vessels which lead to heart attack, chest pain or stroke.

Types

  1. Congenital heart disease- the heart problems that a person is born with such as septal defects
  2. Arrhythmia- irregularities in the rhythm of pulsation of the heart such as tachycardia, tachyarrythmia, bradycardia, etc.
  3. Coronary artery disease- diseases of the blood vessels of the heart
  4. Dilated cardiomyopathy- The heart chambers become dilated as a result of heart muscle weakness and cannot pump blood properly.
  5. Myocardial infarction- loss of blood supply to heart muscles.
  6. Heart failure- heart failure occurs when the heart does not pump blood around the body efficiently.
  7. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy- is a genetic disorder in which the wall of the left ventricle thickens, making it harder for blood to be pumped out of the heart.
  8. Mitral regurgitation- this occurs when the mitral valve in the heart does not close tightly enough.
  9. Mitral valve prolapsed- The valve between the left atrium and left ventricle does not fully close
  10. Pulmonary stenosis- narrowing or closure of the pulmonary valve.

Symptoms

The common symptoms of heart diseases include chest pain or angina, breathlessness, and heart palpitations. Heart diseases may result in heart attack and heart failure when left untreated. The signs of a heart attack are similar to angina but they can also occur during rest and tend to be more severe. Other signs are breathlessness, dizziness, profuse sweating, nausea and vomiting. Some heart conditions does not present with any symptoms at all, especially in older adults and individuals with diabetes.