Posts Tagged ‘Effects Of Heart Disease’

Heart Disease Causes and Effects-How to Reverse Effects Naturally

Sunday, March 6th, 2011

Everybody knows that heart disease causes and effects is an ever growing problem in our society today. The good news is that there are natural things you can do to treat heart disease if you have developed it and if you have not, strategies to follow to prevent heart disease from ever developing. Let’s take a look at what those are.

Heart Disease Causes – Reverse the Effects of Heart Disease Naturally!
By Ken Hansen

Heart disease causes are many and varied. Among the most common are those caused by lifestyle changes that can be easily managed, such as eating a healthy diet and exercising, managing your weight so that it stays within the healthy range, and keeping up on family risk factors for heart disease, thus the need to work with your doctor to minimize or even eliminate them.

Heart defects:

Heart defects, for example, usually develop while the baby is still in utero, and are usually structural imperfections that may or may not be able to be fixed with surgery, or managed with medication.

Cardiomyopathy:

Cardiomyopathy is a very common type of heart disorder where the heart muscle thickens or enlarges. There are three major types. Dilated cardiomyopathy is the most common type, and with this type of cardiomyopathy, the left ventricle, which is the main pumping chamber, becomes enlarged so much that its pumping ability is compromised and blood flow is also minimized.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy occurs when the heart muscle grows or thickens abnormally, again mostly within the main pumping chamber, the left ventricle. As the heart thickens, it tends to get stiffer, such that pumping is less effective, and the chamber itself shrinks. This reduces the heart’s ability to pump blood effectively throughout the body.

With restrictive cardiomyopathy, the heart itself simply becomes less elastic, which means that it doesn’t expand properly and fill with blood between beats. This is the least common type of cardiomyopathy and often occurs for no apparent reason.

Infections and viruses:

Heart infections can cause heart disease, such as myocarditis, endocarditis, and pericarditis. In these cases, bacteria or viruses enter the bloodstream and can cause damage. With endocarditis particularly, poor oral health could be the cause because as you brush your teeth, bacteria can enter your blood stream through infected gums. Bacteria that cause Lyme disease can also bring on myocarditis.

Viruses, too, can cause heart infections, such as those that cause influenza, mononucleosis, measles, and the human parvovirus. In addition, sexually transmitted diseases can also travel to the heart muscle and cause infection there.

Parasites:

Parasites can be another cause of heart disease, such as toxoplasma.

Therapeutic interventions:

Certain therapeutic interventions for other diseases like cancer may also damage the heart, such as radiation treatment or certain chemotherapy drugs.

Allergic or toxic reactions:

Medications and drugs can cause allergic or toxic reactions that can damage the heart. Antibiotics like penicillin and illegal drugs like cocaine can also damage the heart; especially with the administration of needle-based illicit drugs like heroin, infection can also be introduced to the heart via this mechanism.

Autoimmune disorders:

Finally, there are certain autoimmune disorders that can cause heart disease, like lupus or Wegener’s granulomatosis.

Fortunately, the vast majority of heart disease causes can be entirely managed by managing your own lifestyles of the East and stay as healthy and fit as possible. Although these aforementioned heart disease causes certainly do exist, by far the most common reason for heart disease is the presence of lifestyle factors like obesity, lack of exercise, diabetes caused by poor diet and lifestyle, high blood pressure, and so on.

For most other heart disease causes, the conditions can at least be managed with medication and lifestyle changes, if not cured, through interventions like surgery to correct congenital defects.

http://www.heartattackwomen.net/
http://www.heartattackwomen.net/heart-disease-causes/heart-disease-causes

As you can see, as Ken states there are numerous heart diseases causes and effects. However, by making some simple lifestyle changes, you can achieve optimal heart health and life!

To Your Heart’s Health
Monique Hawkins
540-858-2885 anytime
Skype: Monique371

Heart Disease and Women-Know What To Look For

Friday, September 18th, 2009

When Florence Griffith Joyner died unexpectedly from a “heart seizure” a number of years ago, everyone was suprised. After all, she was an athlete in perfect health. Or so we thought.

This shows that heart disease and women is a very serious health problem and none of use are immune. However, we can take important steps to ensure we at least reduce the risk of developing heart disease as a woman.

I like the following article and I’m sure you will as well. Follow the advice and stay as healthy as you can!

Heart Disease and Women
By Tracee Cornforth, About.com
Updated: July 08, 2009
http://womenshealth.about.com/cs/heartdisease/a/heartdiseasewom.htm

Heart Disease and Women
Dateline: 9/21/98
Death of an Athlete
Shocking and sad news for the world today and for women everywhere comes with the announcement of the death of Olympic athlete Florence Griffith Joyner. The 38 year old winner of three gold medals during the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea died of what was described by her husband as “apparent heart seizure.” The sudden death of this obviously in-shape athlete proves that no one is immune from the effects of heart disease.

Heart disease which is the number one cause of death in American women claimed the lives of more than 500,000 women in 1994, the last year for which statistics are available, and accounted for 45.2% of all deaths in women that year. The sad fact for African-American women, like Ms. Joyner, is that the death rate from cardiovascular disease is 69% higher in black women than white women.

Women often deceive themselves by believing that breast cancer is the disease that they should fear most, but the facts are that an estimated one out of two women will eventually die of heart related diseases while the rate of death from breast cancer equals one out of twenty-five.

What Are Your Risk Factors?

Major risk factors for coronary heart disease in women include cigarette smoking, hypertension, high blood cholesterol, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, and poor eating habits. While we can try to live a healthy lifestyle and implement healthy habits, we can see through the death of Ms. Joyner that other factors including genetics and racial differences may play a key role in determining who will be caught by this deadly disease.

What Can You Do to Reduce Your Risks?

Although we know that Florence Griffith Joyner was physically fit, we can still lower our risks by maintaining a regular schedule of physical activity. Exercise recommendations for average women include thirty minutes a day of aerobic activity which can be as simple as brisk walking three to five times a week; even more benefits can be achieved by exercising longer and more often. Earlier this year we learned that regular exercise may prevent up to 50% of all cancers.

If you smoke–quit! Of course it won’t be easy, but if you need some help The Mining Co. Quitting Smoking Guide Christine H. Rowley offers support and information to help you achieve your goal for a healthier and longer life.

Nutrition is also a key factor in the development of heart disease. A heart-healthy diet is one that is low in fat (20-30% of your daily calories) and includes lots of fresh fruits and vegetables with a minimum of red meat (most of us eat far to much meat- a healthy serving of meat is about the size of a deck of cards). Losing weight if you are overweight will lower your risk of future heart disease as well as many other conditions including some types of cancer.

What Are the Symptoms of a Heart Attack?

Since we can safely assume that Ms. Joyner was routinely following the recommendations for a healthy lifestyle it is imperative that women recognize the symptoms of a heart attack so that treatment can begin immediately.

General symptoms that are indicative of a heart attack include:

* Pressure, fullness, or squeezing pain in the center of your chest that lasts more than a few minutes or that goes away and then returns

* Pain that extends to the shoulders, neck, or arms

* Chest discomfort accompanied by dizziness, fainting, sweating, nausea, or shortness of breath

Women should pay particular attention to the following symptoms which often occur prior to heart attacks in women:
* Unusual pain in the chest, stomach, or abdomen

* Nausea or dizziness

* Shortness of breath and breathing difficulties

* Unusual anxiety, loss of strength, or fatigue

* Heart palpitations, cold sweat, or a pale appearance

If you experience any of these symptoms–see your physician immediately! Remember, timing of the beginning of treatment is crucial in surviving a heart attact.

If there is a lesson to be learned from the untimely death of Florence Griffith Joyner it is thatyou are never too young to be taken down by heart disease.

Take care of yourself!
Monique Hawkins
540-858-2885
Skype: Monique371