The heart is like any other muscle, requiring blood to supply oxygen and nutrients for it to function. The heart’s needs are provided by the coronary arteries, which begin at the base of the aorta and spread across the surface of the heart, branching out to all areas of the heart muscle. The coronary arteries are at risk for narrowing as cholesterol deposits, called plaques, build up inside the artery. If the arteries narrow enough, blood supply to the heart muscle may be compromised (slowed down), and this slowing of blood flow to the heart causes pain, or angina.

Information About Heart Diseases 

The heart has four chambers, two on the right (actually on the right and front) and two on the left ( actually to the left and behind the right –sided chambers). To make it easily understandable, a simplified diagrammatic view of the heart is given in Each of the two sides of the heart consists of a smaller receiving chamber called the ventricle, which, respectively, receive blood from the whole body and pump it into the lungs.

Coronary heart disease is usually caused by a condition called atherosclerosis, which occurs when fatty material and a substance called plaque builds up on the walls of your arteries. This causes them to get narrow. As the coronary arteries narrow, blood flow to the heart can slow down or stop, causing chest pain (stable angina), shortness of breath, heart attack, and other symptoms.

Coronary artery disease occurs when some of the arteries that carry blood to the heart muscle become narrowed with fatty deposits. In this condition fatty deposits called plaque, composed of cholesterol and fats, build up on the inner wall of the coronary arteries. When arteries are narrowed, the heart is not fully supplied with the oxygen and other nutrients it needs.  If an artery is completely blocked, a heart attack occurs.

Rheumatic (roo-MAT-ik) heart disease was formerly one of the most serious forms of heart diseases of childhood and adolescence.  Rheumatic heart disease involves damage to the entire heart and its membranes. Rheumatic heart disease is a complication of rheumatic fever and usually occurs after attacks of rheumatic fever. The incidence of rheumatic heart disease has been greatly reduced by widespread use of antibiotics effective against the streptococcal bacterium that causes rheumatic fever.

Treatments for Heart Diseases

There is a wide range of effective drug treatments for people with heart diseases. These drugs can help lower blood pressure or cholesterol, prevent or dissolve blood clots, relieve and prevent angina symptoms or improve the strength or rhythm of the heart’s contractions. Medical procedures to diagnose and treat heart disease include coronary angiography, coronary artery bypass grafts, coronary angioplasty, coronary stinting, heart transplants, operations for congenital defects, surgery for heart valve defects, electrophysiological treatments and implanting of cardiac defibrillator.

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