Heart Disease Treatment and Prevention

Overview

Heart disease describes a range of conditions that affect your heart. Diseases under the heart disease umbrella include blood vessel diseases, such as coronary artery disease; heart rhythm problems (arrhythmias); and heart defects you’re born with (congenital heart defects), among others.

The term “heart disease” is often used interchangeably with the term “cardiovascular disease.” Cardiovascular disease generally refers to conditions that involve narrowed or blocked blood vessels that can lead to a heart attack, chest pain (angina) or stroke. Other heart conditions, such as those that affect your heart’s muscle, valves or rhythm, also are considered forms of heart disease.

Many forms of heart disease can be prevented or treated with healthy lifestyle choices.

The heart and blood vessels can be affected by many different medical conditions and there are a huge number of medicines available to manage them.

Often a combination of different medicines will be used to manage your condition as safely and effectively as possible.

For example, people with high blood pressure (hypertension) might need a diuretic such as Bendroflumethiazide as well as a beta-blocker like atenolol or bisoprolol.

People with angina may also use a nitrate medicine such as glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) to relieve the pain of an attack. 

Your doctor will work with you to find the medicines most suitable for you.

High blood pressure happens when the force on the walls of blood vessels (caused by the blood within them) is more than normal. This means the heart has to work harder and the blood vessels are under more strain, making it a major risk factor for heart disease.

stroke and other serious conditions. Healthcare professionals sometimes call high blood pressure ‘hypertension’.

Diagnosis

The tests you’ll need to diagnose your heart disease depend on what condition your doctor thinks you might have. No matter what type of heart disease you have, your doctor will likely perform a physical exam and ask about your personal and family medical history before doing any tests. Besides blood tests and a chest X-ray, tests to diagnose heart disease can include:

• Electrocardiogram (ECG). An ECG records these electrical signals and can help your doctor detect irregularities in your heart’s rhythm and structure.
• You may have an ECG while you’re at rest or while exercising (stress electrocardiogram).
• Holter monitoring. A Holter monitor is a portable device you wear to record a continuous ECG, usually for 24 to 72 hours.
• Holter monitoring is used to detect heart rhythm irregularities that aren’t found during a regular ECG exam.
• Echocardiogram. This noninvasive exam, which includes an ultrasound of your chest, shows detailed images of your heart’s structure and function.
• Stress test. This type of test involves raising your heart rate with exercise or medicine while performing heart tests and imaging to check how your heart responds.
• Cardiac catheterization. In this test, a short tube (sheath) is inserted into a vein or artery in your leg (groin) or arm. A hollow, flexible and longer tube (guide catheter) is then inserted into the sheath. Aided by X-ray images on a monitor, your doctor threads the guide catheter through that artery until it reaches your heart.
• Cardiac computerized tomography (CT) scan. This test is often used to check for heart problems. In a cardiac CT scan, you lie on a table inside a doughnut-shaped machine.
• An X-ray tube inside the machine rotates around your body and collects images of your heart and chest.
• Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). For this test, you lie on a table inside a long tube-like machine that produces a magnetic field.
• The magnetic field produces pictures to help your doctor evaluate your heart.

MORE INFO CLICK HERE

For more info click here

More posts blog