Heart Disease

Heart disease includes many diseases that affect your heart, but coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common and familiar one. CAD can create a waxy buildup in your heart's arteries that can cause a heart attack. Healthy habits, medicines and procedures can prevent or treat CAD and other heart diseases.

Overview

What is heart disease?

Heart disease is a variety of issues that can affect your heart. When people think about heart disease, they often think of the most common type — coronary artery disease (CAD) and the heart attacks it can cause. But you can have trouble with different parts of your heart, like your heart muscle, valves or electrical system.

When your heart isn't working well, it has trouble sending enough blood, oxygen and nutrients to your body. In a way, your heart delivers the fuel that keeps your body's systems running. If there's a problem with delivering that fuel, it affects everything your body's systems do.

Lifestyle changes and medications can keep your heart healthy and lower your chances of getting heart disease.

What are the types of heart disease?

Heart disease types include:

        Narrowing of your heart's blood vessels because of fatty deposits (coronary artery disease).

·       Abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias).

·       Heart valve diseases.

·       Abnormal heart muscle (cardiomyopathy).

·       Heart squeezing and relaxation difficulties (heart failure).

·       Heart issues you have at birth (congenital heart disease).

·       Issues with the fluid-filled sac surrounding your heart (pericardium).

Symptoms and Causes

What are the symptoms of heart disease?

You can have different symptoms of heart disease depending on what's wrong. Heart disease symptoms may include:

·       Pounding or racing heart (palpitations).

·       Sweating.

·       Lightheadedness.

·       Shortness of breath.

·       Dizziness or sudden unexplained loss of consciousness.

·       Chest or upper body pain, pressure, heaviness or discomfort.

·       Neck pain.

·       Heartburn or indigestion.

·       Nausea or vomiting.

·       Swelling in your lower body.

·       Exhaustion.

·       Difficulty sleeping.

·       Inability to handle exercise.

·       Fever.

What are the early warning signs of heart disease?

Early warning signs of heart disease include:

·       Chest pain.

·       Shortness of breath.

·       Swelling in your legs.

·       Fatigue.

Dizziness, fainting unexpectedly or near-fainting repeatedly.