Heart and cardiovascular diseases affect the state of the heart and blood vessels. There are many causes for these diseases depending on the type of disease, and symptoms may appear for these diseases or the disease may be asymptomatic.
Changing the lifestyle to a healthy form significantly helps in treating heart and cardiovascular diseases. The doctor may prescribe a heart and artery medication for other cases, and the treatment of heart and cardiovascular diseases is easier, God willing, if they are discovered early.
The medical treatment prescribed by the doctor helps in managing symptoms and reducing the risk of health problems such as heart attacks, heart failure, and strokes.
What are the Causes of Heart and Cardiovascular Diseases?
Before learning about the causes of heart and cardiovascular diseases, it is useful to know the number of arteries in the heart and the types of arteries in the heart. The heart is usually nourished through two main coronary arteries: the right coronary artery and the left coronary artery, which in turn branches into the left anterior descending artery and the circumflex artery. Any defect or hardening in one of these arteries may lead to various heart and cardiovascular diseases.
Causes of heart and cardiovascular diseases may vary depending on the type of problem the patient suffers from. For example, atherosclerosis leads to coronary artery disease.
Coronary artery disease or scarring of the heart muscle may lead to heart problems, and genetic problems or medications may cause heart rhythm disorders.
Of course, advancing age, infections, and rheumatic diseases can cause valve diseases.
But in general, there are some risk factors that can make a person more susceptible to heart and cardiovascular diseases, including:
- High blood pressure.
- High blood cholesterol.
- Smoking.
- If the patient has a family history of heart disease.
- Lack of movement.
- Obesity.
- Following an unhealthy diet rich in fat, sugar, and sodium.
- Alcohol consumption.
- Diabetes, especially type 2.
- Preeclampsia.
- Gestational diabetes.
- Chronic kidney disease.
- Autoimmune diseases.
Heart Disease Symptoms
Some wonder about what are the heart and artery symptoms, as heart and cardiovascular disease symptoms in men and women may vary depending on the cause. Heart disease symptoms include the following:
- Chest pain.
- Feeling of pressure or weight on the chest area.
- Shortness of breath.
- Dizziness or fainting.
- Feeling of fatigue or exhaustion.
Symptoms of blood vessel obstruction in all parts of the body include the following:
- Blood vessel obstruction in the leg leads to feeling pain and swelling with leg cramps when walking.
- Feeling of numbness in the face or in one of the limbs.
- Difficulty seeing, walking, or talking.
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Most Dangerous Types of Heart Diseases
The most dangerous heart diseases are those that affect the heart arteries, where the patient suffers from narrowing and obstruction of the arteries. The most dangerous types of heart diseases include the following:
Coronary Heart Disease
It is called coronary artery disease, and this disease occurs when the blood vessels that supply the heart with blood narrow. Untreated coronary artery disease may lead to chest pain, irregular heartbeat, and heart failure.
There are some factors that increase the risk of coronary heart disease, including:
- High blood pressure.
- High blood cholesterol rate.
- Genetic factors.
- Diabetes.
- Smoking.
- Weight gain.
Some steps help in avoiding coronary artery disease such as practicing sports regularly, refraining from smoking, stopping alcohol consumption, maintaining a moderate weight, and eating a healthy low-sodium diet rich in vegetables and fruits.
Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction)
In this case, the heart muscle does not get enough blood, and this usually occurs as a result of obstruction of the arteries that supply the heart with blood. The doctor must immediately try to restore blood flow quickly.
Many people feel symptoms such as pressure or weight when a heart attack occurs. This feeling can start in the chest and move to other areas such as the left arm or both arms, or the shoulder, or the neck, or the jaw, or the back, and can go down towards the waist. Some people may suffer from shortness of breath or sweating and nausea only.
It should be noted that some may think these symptoms are caused by heartburn or indigestion, but in fact, it is a heart attack case.
There are some factors that affect the risk of heart attack, including:
- Advancing age.
- Existence of a family history of heart disease.
- Following an unhealthy lifestyle.
- Some health conditions such as high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, and eating disorders, or a history of preeclampsia.
Heart Failure
This condition is also sometimes called congestive heart failure. In it, the heart becomes unable to pump blood properly to all parts of the body. This usually occurs because the heart has become weak or stiff. This condition can occur at any age but commonly occurs in the elderly.
Heart failure cannot usually be cured, but attempts can be made to control the symptoms for long periods reaching years. The main symptoms include:
- Shortness of breath after movement or during rest.
- Feeling tired most of the time.
- Feeling faint or dizzy.
- Swelling of the ankles and legs.
Some people can suffer from other symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, persistent cough, and dizziness. Symptoms can also develop rapidly or gradually over weeks or months.
Rheumatic Heart Diseases
In this case, the heart valve is damaged because of rheumatic fever. This condition can lead to serious health problems such as heart failure.
Infection with scarlet fever leads to stimulating the body’s immune response, resulting in inflammations throughout the body including the heart.
Rheumatic fever inflammation can lead to permanent damage to heart valves, resulting in reducing the amount of blood moving through the heart, and can allow some blood to go in the wrong direction.
Rheumatic heart disease symptoms may not appear until years after infection with streptococcal bacteria or rheumatic fever. Rheumatic heart disease treatments may help in managing symptoms, and treatments include the following:
- Medications.
- Minimally invasive procedures.
- Surgery.
Professor Dr. Mohamed El-Ghannam, Consultant of Heart Surgery and Minimally Invasive Intervention, uses modern techniques and possesses experience with minimally invasive surgeries in Egypt.
Names of Heart and Artery Medications
Many wonder about the best treatment for heart and arteries. There is a large group of heart and artery medications, and the appropriate medication for the patient’s condition is prescribed by a cardiologist based on the patient’s complaint and health status, such as:
- Anticoagulants or blood thinners: These medications prevent blood clotting. These medications do not work to dissolve existing blood clots but are considered preventive factors for patients who have suffered heart attacks.
- Antiplatelet agents: These medications are also used as a preventive factor for those who have suffered a heart attack.
- Thrombolytic agents: These medications are used to break up formed blood clots.
- ACE inhibitors: These medications help in widening blood vessels by lowering levels of angiotensin, which is a strong vasoconstrictor leading to high blood pressure. ACE inhibitors are used in treating high blood pressure, heart failure, and heart attacks.
- Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs): These agents prevent angiotensin II from having any effects on the heart and blood vessels by blocking the receptors it usually binds to. These medications help in treating heart attacks, heart failure, and high blood pressure.
- Beta-blockers: These agents work to reduce heartbeats and final cardiac output.
- Calcium channel blockers:* This class works to stop the movement of calcium into heart and blood vessel cells. This treatment is useful for high blood pressure, angina, and some forms of irregular heartbeat.
- Diuretics: These medications reduce the total blood volume as they increase the excretion of water and sodium in the urine. Thus, blood pressure and the heart’s workload decrease.
- Vasodilators: These medications help in relaxing blood vessels and lowering blood pressure. They are also useful in cases of heart failure, angina, and heart attacks.
- Digoxin: Used to stimulate heartbeats in some cases of heart failure.
- Statins: Work on reducing the synthesis of blood cholesterol in the liver, as high blood cholesterol is one of the main causes of atherosclerosis.
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Most Prominent Notes on Heart and Artery Medications
1.First: Medication timings must be adhered to as specified by the treating physician.
2.Second: Taking into account not stopping or adjusting medication intake without consulting the doctor.
3.Third: Heart, artery, and pressure medications may have some side effects at the beginning of their use, such as (dizziness when standing up quickly – heart disturbances – dry cough or headache). It is recommended to consult a doctor if these symptoms persist at the beginning of using the medication for more than two or three days.
4.Fourth: Some flu medications have side effects that affect pressure and heart arteries. It is recommended to use Paramol with Vitamin C when the flu occurs until consulting the specialized doctor.
5.Fifth: Lipid-lowering drugs and medications must be taken after conducting the necessary analyses for that and consulting the doctor to prescribe the appropriate type for each patient according to the analyses.
There are different types of heart and artery medications, and the patient must understand how to take these medications correctly and what their possible side effects are. It is worth noting that heart and artery medications are not taken except by a doctor’s prescription, as he knows the appropriate heart and cardiovascular disease treatment for each case and to avoid the occurrence of other health problems as well.
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