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Facts About Heart Diseases
Around 60 million Americans in the United States suffer with one or the other kind of cardiovascular ailments. Heart diseases are the leading cause of death in the United States with cancer taking the second spot.
The prime components of human cardiovascular system include heart and blood vessels. Functions of heart include purifying blood and pumping pure blood throughout the body. There are two types of blood vessels including arteries and veins. Arteries carry the pure blood from the heart to various parts of the body. Veins carry impure blood from different body parts to the heart. Cardiovascular diseases can be defined as disorders occurring in different parts of cardiovascular system. These disorders may be either congenital or acquired. Congenital heart diseases include cardiac myopathies occurring at the time of the child’s birth. Acquired cardiovascular diseases are those that develop as a consequence of unhealthy lifestyle.
Cardiovascular diseases can be broadly classified into diseases occurring in the heart and diseases affecting blood vessels. Conditions affecting the heart include coronary heart disease, coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, myocardial ischemia, cardiac arrest, angina pectoris, cardiomyopathies, angina, valvular heart disease, pericardial disease and congestive heart failure. Conditions affecting the blood vessels include high blood pressure, vasculitis, claudication, atherosclerosis, varicose veins, venous thrombosis, venous incompetence and aneurysm.
There are several risk factors influencing the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases. Most heart diseases occur as a result of more than one risk factor. Cardiovascular diseases can be prevented to a certain extent if a person adopts a healthy lifestyle such as avoiding smoking and alcohol consumption, exercising regularly, taking a balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables, controlling blood cholesterol and glucose levels, controlling blood pressure, and maintaining healthy weight.
