Diseases of the heart

Heart disease remains the biggest killer in the West. The immediate cause of death is a ‘sudden’ heart attack but this is the end-point of the slow progression of coronary heart disease (CHD) or coronary artery disease (CAD) where, over decades, the artery walls become blocked so stopping or severely restricting the flow of blood to the heart.

The most common heart diseases are:

coronary heart disease, where atheromatous plaques accumulate in the artery walls, and eventually block the blood supply to the myocardium, or heart muscle
ischaemic heart disease, where the blood supply to the heart is reduced
cardiovascular disease, a general term for a range of diseases that affect either the heart or the veins and arteries that lead to and from the heart
pulmonary heart disease, where the right-side of the heart fails
hereditary heart disease, where genetic factors are the principle cause of CHD
hypertensive heart disease, where heart disease is caused by high blood pressure
inflammatory heart disease, where the heart muscle or surrounding tissue are inflamed
valvular heart disease, where the valves of the heart are affected.

Back to How You Beat Heart Problems

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