Cardiovascular Diseases

Cardiovascular disease refers to the class of diseases that involve the heart and/or blood vessels (arteries and veins). While the term technically refers to any disease that affects the cardiovascular system, it is usually used to refer to those related to atherosclerosis (arterial disease).

Most Western countries face high and increasing rates of cardiovascular disease. Diseases of the heart alone caused 30% of all deaths, with other diseases of the cardiovascular system causing substantial further death and disability. It is the number 1 cause of death and disability in the United States and most European countries. A large histological study (PDAY) showed vascular injury accumulates from adolescence, making primary prevention efforts necessary from childhood. By the time that heart problems are detected, the underlying cause (atherosclerosis) is usually quite advanced, having progressed for decades. There is therefore increased emphasis on preventing atherosclerosis by modifying risk factors.

There are many risk factors which associate with (but are not all causes of) various forms of cardiovascular disease. These include the following:

• Non-modifiable Risk Factors: age; gender, men under age 64 are much more likely to die of coronary heart disease than women, although the gender difference declines with age; genetic factors/family history of cardiovascular disease
• Modifiable Risk Factors: tobacco smoking; insulin resistance & diabetes mellitus; hypercholesterolemia (elevated cholesterol levels) and abnormal lipoprotein particle profile (cholesterol subtypes); obesity, especially central or male-type obesity that, apart from being linked to diabetes, independently increases cardiovascular risk, presumedly by inducing an inflammatory and procoagulant state; high blood pressure; elevated heart rate; physical inactivity/sedentary lifestyle; absence of key nutritional elements, such as omega-3 fatty acids and polyphenol antioxidants; exposure to high levels of environmental noise; stress; depression; periodontal disease.

Although men have a higher rate of cardiovascular disease than women, it is also the number one health problem for women in industrialized countries. After menopause, the risk for women approaches that of men. Hormone replacement therapy alleviates a number of post-menopausal problems, but appears to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Attempts to prevent cardiovascular disease are more effective when they remove and prevent causes, and they often take the form of modifying risk factors, such as:

• smoking cessation (or abstinence)
• regular cardiovascular exercise (aerobic exercise)
• healthful eating habits, poor in fats
• keeping total cholesterol below 150
• eating oily fish at least twice a week, rich in omega-3 fats
• olive oil, thanks to its fatty acids, blocks excessive sodium and calcium currents in the heart, which could otherwise cause dangerous, unpredictable changes in its rhythm
• reducing amount of salt in the diet

Treatment of cardiovascular disease depends on the specific form of the disease* in each patient, but effective treatment always includes preventive lifestyle changes discussed above. Medications, such as blood pressure reducing medications, aspirin and the statin cholesterol-lowering drugs may be helpful. In some circumstances, surgery or angioplasty may be warranted to reopen, repair, or replace damaged blood vessels.

Natural remedies adjuvant in cardiovascular diseases cases call for nutritional supplements of vitamins E and PP, fibers, oily fish, olive oil, red yeast, or containing herbs such as abuta, avenca, Brazilian peppertree, embauba, chá de bugre, cat's claw, guaraná, graviola, guava, mulungu, gervâo, artichoke, jurubeba, yerba mate, suma, vassourinha, sarsaparilla, chanca piedra, picão preto, stevia, quinine, boldo, bitter melon, samambaia, erva tostão.



Types of Cardiovascular Diseases*

There are several types of cardiovascular diseases. Following-up some:

• Aneurysms: localized, blood-filled dilation (bulge) of a blood vessel caused by disease or weakening of the vessel wall
• Angina: chest pain due to ischemia (a lack of blood and hence oxygen supply) of the heart muscle
• Arrhythmia: group of conditions in which the electrical activity of the heart is irregular or is faster (faster than 100 beats/minute is considered a tachycardia) or slower (less than 60 beats/min than normal is considered a bradycardia).
• Athersclerosis: disease affecting arterial blood vessels. It is a chronic inflammatory response in the walls of arteries, in large part to the deposition of lipoproteins
• Cardiomyopathy: literally means "heart muscle disease", is the deterioration of the function of the myocardium (i.e., the actual heart muscle) for any reason
• Congenital Heart Disease: is heart disease in the newborn, and includes structural defects, congenital arrythmias, and cardiomyopathies. Potential identified factors of this disease include environmental factors, such as chemicals, drugs, or infection, and genetic factors.
• Congestive Heart Failure: also called congestive cardiac failure (CCF) or just heart failure, it is a condition that can result from any structural or functional cardiac disorder that impairs the ability of the heart to fill with or pump a sufficient amount of blood throughout the body
• Myocarditis: inflammation of the myocardium, the muscular part of the heart generally due to infection (viral or bacterial). It may present with chest pain, rapid signs of heart failure, or sudden death.
• Valve Disease: any disease process involving one or more valves of the heart (such as aortic insufficency, mitral stenosis, etc.)
• Coronary Artery Disease: also called CAD, ischaemic heart disease, atherosclerotic heart disease, it is the end result of the accumulation of atheromatous plaques within the walls of the arteries that supply the myocardium (the muscle of the heart) with oxygen and nutrients.
• Dialated Cardiomyopathy: hypertrophy of ventricular walls
• Diastolic Dysfunction: it refers to an abnormality in the heart's (i.e. left ventricle's) filling during diastole
• Endocarditis: an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium
• High Blood Pressure(Hypertension): a medical condition in which the blood pressure is chronically elevated.
• Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: a disease of the myocardium (the muscle of the heart) in which a portion of the myocardium is hypertrophied (thickened) without any obvious cause
• Mitral Valve Prolapse: a heart valve condition marked by the displacement of an abnormally thickened mitral valve leaflet into the left atrium during systole
• Myocardial Ischemia: pathological loss of or reduction in blood flow (ischemia) to a part of the muscular tissue of the heart (myocardium).
• Venous Thromboembolism: formation of a clot or thrombus inside a blood vessel, obstructing the flow of blood through the circulatory system

                                                                                             

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