What is Heart Disease?
Heart disease is a very broad term used to describe problems with the heart muscle itself, the blood vessels, and the electrical system of the heart. To understand heart disease, it is necessary to know how the heart works. Your heart is a pump. It is a muscular organ about the size of your fist. The heart is located slightly left of center in your chest. It is divided into the right side and the left side.
The right side of the heart collects and pumps blood to the lungs through the pulmonary arteries. The lungs refresh the blood with a new supply of oxygen, making it turn red. Oxygen-rich blood then enters the left side of the heart and is pumped through the aorta to the body to supply tissues throughout the body with oxygen and nutrients. This movement of blood is made possible by the four valves that keep blood moving in the right direction.
Your heart also has electrical wiring, which keeps it beating. This electrical wiring, the conduction system, keeps your heart beating in a coordinated and normal rhythm, which in turn keeps blood circulating.
Cardiovascular disease is a term used to refer to conditions that involve narrowed or blocked blood vessels. It is caused by a buildup of fatty plaques in your blood vessels that prevents blood flow to the heart, brain and other vital organs. The prevention of oxygen-rich blood flow to the heart will lead to angina or heart attack. The prevention of blood flow to the brain will lead to stroke. The prevention of blood flow to blood vessels in the legs will lead to claudication (leg and calf pain with walking). All of these conditions can be prevented by keeping your blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol levels controlled, maintaining a good exercise regimen and refraining from tobacco use.
