One third of the total number of deaths worldwide is caused by cardiovascular diseases, which thereby constitute the leading cause of death worldwide. According to the World Health Organization there are over 300 risk factors associated with cardiovascular diseases and cerebrovascular accidents and these risk factors currently affect people all over the world.
Contrary to general belief that heart disease affects mostly men residing in developed countries but, over 80% of deaths caused by cardiovascular disease occur in countries with medium and low standard of life and the ratio is almost equal among men and women. Chest pain, fatigue and other symptoms of heart problems are very obvious and known by everyone. Some cardiovascular disease (for ex. high blood pressure), can develop without realizing any symptom and can remain asymptomatic for a long time. On the contrary, other diseases (for ex. myocardial infarction) can manifest in a dramatic way with a cardiac arrest or a heart failure.
However, most often, evocative symptoms indicate the evolution of heart disease. It may be difficult, abnormal breathing during physical exertion, palpitations (abnormal sensation of feeling heart beat), syncope (sudden cessation heart function temporarily or permanently, interrupted breathing with loss of sensation and voluntary movements) often due to excessive slowdown of heart beat, cardiac output, low blood pressure or angina. There are some other signs/symptoms also which are beyond the thinking of persons as symptoms or signs closely related to cardiac dysfunctions.
Ischemic heart disease is the coronary heart disease which is the most common cause of deaths worldwide. In the other language, it is often defined with painful angina or ischemic cardiomyopathy which is scientifically incorrect connection and can cause dangerous confusion in persons suffering from heart ailments.
Ischemic heart disease affects the coronary arteries by narrowing them. Thus, there is a decrease in the amount of blood (which cannot carry optimum amount of oxygen, glucose and fatty acids essential for heart functions) that supplied to the heart muscles. This phenomenon of reduction of blood flow through the coronary arteries has been named medically as ischemia. The cardiac modifications produced by ischemia are designated by the term cardiopathy. In most cases ischemia occurs because hardening and shrinking the size of large coronary arteries due to formation of atherosclerotic plaque in their inside layer of wall.
For cardiovascular system health, specialists of STAR INTERNATIONAL MED have created Ayurmed brand (a brand of STAR INTERNATIONAL MED) ayurvedic remedies LYON HEART and PRESSURE DOWN.
Cardiac Insufficiency
Heart failure occurs when the heart muscle is not able to pump the sufficient amount of blood. It is a condition in which the heart is unable to pump blood to both organs and tissues due to that they receive an insufficient supply of oxygen and nutrients from blood. As the tissues receive insufficient blood due to inability of the heart to pump it, on the other hand, blood stagnates and accumulates in organs, due to the inability of the heart to receive it. Heart failure can affect all parts of the heart but, usually, the left side is affected first. Each part is composed of two chambers; the upper chamber – the atrium and lower chamber – the ventricle. Atrium receives blood, while the ventricle pumps blood into the body. Heart failure occurs when any of these chambers loses its ability to provide blood flow under normal conditions.
Breathlessness and difficulty in breathing during an effort is among the signs of the above mentioned disease, because a large amount of blood and fluid accumulates in the lungs. It gets worsen as the time passes. During sleep, the patient wakes up because he cannot breathe, suffocating, and is forced to stand up in order to breathe. It sometimes patient also suffers from appearance of an irritating cough that seems to be never ending. In the day time patient does not urinates much or does not at all, but there is an excess urination occurs during night. Heart failure can have many causes (diseases) that are difficult to be determined. The most common are coronary heart disease, heart muscle disease (cardiomyopathy, myocarditis), valvulopathy, hypertension etc.
As we grow older, the heart’s ability to pump blood gets weakened. In heart failure there are also other factors that affect the heart or cause an overstress. In fact , all cardiovascular risk factors, hypertension, smoking, obesity, foods high in fat and cholesterol, sedentary life style and diabetes are main causes of heart failure. In some cases, however, the patient’s lifestyle is not responsible for heart failure (eg. People with congenital malformations of the heart or damages of the heart muscle caused by a virus).
For cardiovascular system health, specialists of STAR INTERNATIONAL MED have created Ayurmed brand (a brand of STAR INTERNATIONAL MED) ayurvedic remedies LYON HEART and PRESSURE DOWN.
Atherosclerosis
Atherosclerosis is characterized by the presence of fat deposits on artery walls (plaque) that weakens the blood circulation. This disease can affect the arteries (coronary arteries), in the manner of their inability to provide sufficient amount of oxygenated blood. Atherosclerosis is the prime cause of mortality in Western countries. Two main concepts in order to understand the process of atherosclerosis are LDL cholesterol (or bad cholesterol), which favors the appearance of plaque and HDL (or good cholesterol) which protects against atherosclerosis.
At the onset, atherosclerosis usually does not produce any symptoms. Its presence can be revealed by chest pain similar to constriction and often induced by physical exertion (angina pectoris) or a heart attack. Atherosclerosis can affect other arteries of the other organs also, especially the brain, and in this case, there is a risk of stroke which involves a further risk of reducing or blocking blood circulation (ischemia). Atherosclerosis risk factors (not limited to) are: age, hypertension, total increase in cholesterol (on the LDL cholesterol), diabetes, low HDL cholesterol, obesity (abdominal circumference measured more than 102 cm in men and 88 cm in women).
Hypertension or increase in blood pressure represents an increased value of blood pressure above normal, determined from the average between at least two measurements carried out in two or more visits after initial screening. High blood pressure is expressed (measured) in millimeters of mercury. The maximum blood pressure (or systolic blood pressure) is measured when the heart contracts and pushes the blood into the arteries. The minimum value of blood pressure (or diastolic blood pressure) is measured after the ejection of blood during the resting phase of the heart. An abnormal increase in blood pressure over the value of 14/90 mmHg measured at rest, lying position and calculated by many measurements, corresponds hypertension. Usually, the doctor says 14/ 90 to express this tension. Normal blood pressure values are established by international institutions: BP 130/80 mmHg and the optimal blood pressure without cardiovascular risk is 120/80 mmHg.
Sudden and significant increases in blood pressure (hypertensive leaps) can manifest with symptoms like headache, dizziness, ringing in the ears (tinnitus) or blurred vision (floaters) – “flying flies” (phosphenes), nausea, malaise. Hypertension is very common, affects between 5-15% of the population. Generally does not produce any symptoms, it is often discovered by chance during a routine medical exam. In 90% of cases, the etiology remains unknown. Till the age of 50 years, 1 of 5 people has high blood pressure, after the age of 50, 1 in 3, and at the age of 65 years, 2 of 3 people suffer from high blood pressure. It is estimated that in Romania there are over 5 million people suffering from hypertension. This disease favors an increase in the volume (hypertrophy) of left ventricle and may cause serious complications in the brain (stroke), kidney (chronic renal failure) and the eyes (retinopathy).
For cardiovascular system health, specialists of STAR INTERNATIONAL MED have created Ayurmed brand (a brand of STAR INTERNATIONAL MED) ayurvedic remedies LYON HEART and PRESSURE DOWN.