Coronary heart disease, also known as coronary artery disease, is the most prevalent kind of heart disease affecting adults in the United States. Most often, when people discuss heart illness, they’re talking about coronary heart disease.
However, heart disease, also known as cardiovascular disease, is a general word that covers a variety of disorders that can damage your heart. Understanding the many forms of heart disease can help you take better care of your heart. Learn more about eight distinct types of heart illness, including arrhythmias and diseases of the heart valves, by reading on.
1. Heart Arrhythmia
An irregular heartbeat is called a cardiac arrhythmia. The heart may beat irregularly, too quickly, or too slowly.
Bradycardia is the term for a heart rate that is lower than usual. Your brain may not be receiving enough blood flow if your heart rate is too slow. Bradycardia is defined as a resting heart rate of less than 60 beats per minute (BPM) in the majority of adults. Adults who are physically active, however, frequently have resting heart rates that are lower than 60 BPM.
Tachycardia is the term for an abnormally high heart rate. A resting heart rate of more than 100 BPM is regarded as tachycardia in most persons. When an increase in heart rate during exercise, illness, or stressful situations is normal, it becomes alarming when this happens when you are at rest.
The most prevalent kind of cardiac arrhythmia is atrial fibrillation, which is characterized by an erratic heartbeat.
An irregular or abnormal heartbeat impairs the heart’s ability to pump blood efficiently. Congenital cardiac problems, smoking, a history of heart attacks, and certain drugs can all contribute to the illness. Chest pain, breathlessness, dizziness, and a fast or sluggish heartbeat are some of the symptoms.
2. Coronary Artery Disease
The most prevalent kind of heart disease is called coronary artery disease, which is often referred to as ischemic heart disease and coronary heart disease interchangeably.
What is the underlying cause of this cardiac condition? Atherosclerosis, or the constriction and hardening of the arteries as a result of plaque accumulation, is the cause of coronary artery disease. Narrowed arteries reduce the flow of blood through the heart, which makes it difficult for the heart muscle to adequately distribute nutrients and oxygen throughout the body. A cholesterol test can determine your high levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, which can increase the risk of plaque accumulation.
An increased risk of blood clots that can result in a heart attack is linked to restricted blood flow to the heart caused by constricted arteries.
Angina, or uncomfortable, squeezing-like chest discomfort, is a highly prevalent sign of coronary artery disease. To see potential warning signs of heart disease, it’s crucial to regularly evaluate your heart health because this heart ailment may not show any symptoms for a long time before a heart attack happens.
3. Heart Valve Disease
The heart has four valves that cooperate to pump blood to every part of the body. Tissue flaps covering each valve open and close to control blood flow through the various cardiac chambers. Heart valves can become less flexible or lose their appropriate shape, which might hinder the valves’ ability to open and close.
A “prolapse” occurs when the valve flap extends back into the heart chamber following a cardiac beat. When the valve closes incorrectly, blood seeps back into the heart chambers rather than the arteries, a condition known as “regurgitation” occurs.
Heart valve illnesses can develop from other heart ailments over time; one such situation is congenital structural anomalies affecting the aortic valves. However, the exact cause of a heart valve illness is frequently unknown.
Heart murmurs, exhaustion, breathing difficulties, and swelling in the legs, feet, and abdomen are a few possible signs. Over time, heart valve dysfunction may lead to heart failure.
4. Rheumatic Heart Disease
Rheumatic fever, a disorder that produces inflammation in the heart, brain, joints, and skin, damages the heart valves irreversibly in rheumatic heart disease. The bacterial infections that cause scarlet fever and strep throat also cause rheumatic fever. Because medications are widely available, rheumatic fever is a very uncommon illness in the United States. The age range of children who are most commonly affected by rheumatic fever is 5 to 15. Rheumatic fever can be avoided by promptly treating infections brought on by streptococcal bacteria and strep throat.
The narrowing of the heart valves caused by rheumatic heart disease may result in leakage. A history of rheumatic fever is crucial for the diagnosis of this disorder, which may take many years to reach this level. Common signs of rheumatic heart disease include swelling, chest discomfort, and shortness of breath.
In the end, bacterial endocarditis or heart failure may result from untreated rheumatic heart disease. An infection of the inner lining of the heart is called bacterial endocarditis.
5. Congestive Heart Failure
The term “congestive heart failure,” or simply “heart failure,” describes the incapacity of the heart muscle to pump blood effectively enough to provide the body with oxygen. Heart arrest, or the abrupt stop of heart activity, is not the same as congestive heart failure. Individuals over 65 are more likely to suffer from this cardiac disease.
Obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and coronary artery disease are potential risk factors for congestive heart failure. Chest pain, shortness of breath, fluid accumulation in the legs, ankles, and feet, and a persistent cough are signs of potential heart failure.
Congenital heart disease, or birth anomalies in the heart’s structure, can also result in congestive heart failure.
6. Congenital Heart Disease
Congenital heart problems, which impact the structure of the heart walls, valves, and arteries or veins around the heart, are the most prevalent kind of birth defects. One of the most important factors in predicting whether a kid will be born with a congenital heart defect is the family history of congenital heart disease.
Not every congenital cardiac abnormality has symptoms or requires medical attention. Nevertheless, medicine, cardiac surgery, or a heart transplant are necessary for the treatment of certain structural problems.
The hole in the wall that divides the two heart chambers, known as the atrial septal defect, is an illustration of a congenital structural defect. Larger holes can eventually harm the heart and lungs, although smaller flaws might go unnoticed and cause no issues. During the early years of life, cardiac surgery is required to rectify these major abnormalities.
Another example of a congenital cardiac abnormality is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. It is an uncommon genetic illness that causes the heart muscle to be abnormally thick, which makes it challenging for the heart to pump blood effectively. Since most patients with this cardiac issue don’t exhibit heart disease symptoms, the disorder is frequently misdiagnosed. Nonetheless, it might cause dyspnea in certain individuals and necessitates urgent medical intervention.
7. Heart Muscle Disease
Other heart illnesses, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, can also impact the heart muscle for causes other than congenital abnormalities.
The illness known as dilated cardiomyopathy causes the left ventricle, the heart’s main pumping chamber, to weaken considerably due to strained and thinned muscle. This interferes with the heart’s capacity to pump blood effectively.
Although dilated cardiomyopathy can strike anyone of any age or gender, men between the ages of 20 and 50 are most likely to experience it. Many persons with this disorder may not exhibit symptoms, however many who do need treatment experience exhaustion, shortness of breath, chest pain, and irregular heartbeat.
The illness is brought on by heart-weakening variables like diabetes, obesity, and elevated blood pressure.
8. Myocardial Infarction
An additional term for a heart attack is myocardial infarction. A heart attack occurs when a clot unexpectedly blocks the coronary artery, which surrounds the heart, thus cutting off the heart’s blood supply. This irreversibly destroys the heart muscle, which is why if you have ever experienced a heart attack, you are more susceptible to other cardiac conditions.
Heart attacks are most frequently caused by coronary artery disease. Your risk of myocardial infarction is increased by high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, obesity, plaque buildup, and constricted arteries brought on by excessive cholesterol. males and women both frequently feel chest pain as the initial symptom, but women are more likely than males to also have other symptoms such nausea, vomiting, dyspnea, jaw pain, and back pain.