Types of Heart Diseases

Any disease or condition that affects the working of the heart can be called as heart disease or diseases. Being the most important part of the body, heart pumps blood and oxygen in the body and makes you live a healthy life. A heart disease is a serious problem as it can affect the normal functions of the body and lead to an early death.

There are numerous types of heart diseases. Some may be fatal, others may not be life threatening but prove equally dangerous if not controlled on time. Some heart diseases are easily recognized while others are not. Thus, to deal with any type of heart disease or condition, it is very important to be aware of it and know about the types of heart diseases that one may have.

Some Important Types of Heart Diseases are

Angina

Angina is a particular type of chest pain. Angina pain is often felt in the chest, arms, shoulder or back. Angina pain is felt more when the heart works faster during the exercise or mental exertion. It goes away with rest but leaves you weak and sweaty.
It is important to get angina pain treated as it may occur more frequently if it’s left untreated. The most common reason why angina pain occurs is the reduced flow of blood to the heart due to high blood pressure or high cholesterol. In most of the cases, angina is the first sign of a heart disease.

Heart Attack

Heart attack, also known as acute myocardial infraction is a very common type of heart disease and a very deadly one too. The main cause of a heart attack is coronary thrombosis or blockage of blood vessels of the heart. When the heart does not receive proper amount of blood to pump, a heart attack may result.

In a heart attack, the heart actually stops working for a few minutes, this condition is known as cardiac arrest. A heart attack is also called the death of a part of heart muscle. The most common symptom of heart attack is chest pain or discomfort. However, many of the patients also suffer from silent heart attacks and do not feel any pain if they suffer from diabetes or any other condition. A heart specialist should be immediately consulted in case of any doubt.

Arrhythmia

It is a type of heart disease in which the heart rate or the rhythm of the heart beat is not normal or consistent. An arrhythmia can also be defined as the change in the regular heart beat pattern. It may seem that the heart is skipping a beat or beating very fast or very slow.

Atherosclerosis

It is a heart disease in which the blood arteries harden due to build up of excess cholesterol and other fatty substance in the body. This excessive cholesterol and fat becomes deposited in any artery of the body and lead to obstruction in the blood flow. It can give rise to a number of other heart diseases.

Rheumatic Heart Disease

It is a chronic heart condition that results from heart damage due to rheumatic fever. This type of heart disease involves damage to the heart and its membranes that primarily results from a complication of rheumatic fever. This condition is characterized by changes in the myocardium or scarring of the heart valves that reduce the ability of the heart to pump blood to the body.

Myocarditis

It is the inflammation or the degeneration of the heart muscle. Usually it results due to a complication from viral, bacterial or parasitic infectious diseases such as polio, influenza or others.
Some of the symptoms of myocarditis include chest pains, irregular heart beat, arrhythmia and breathlessness. It may result in sub-clinical to sudden death.

Other Types of Heart Diseases include

• Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) - Caused by artery narrowing and reduced blood supply to the heart.
• Tachycardia - Abnormally rapid heartbeat (over 100 beats per minutes).
• Ischemic Heart Disease – Heart disease resulting from reduced flow of blood to heart.
• Heart Murmurs – Heart murmur is the sound heart makes when it is beating abnormally.
• Pulmonary Heart Disease – Heart disease resulting when there is some lung complication and the blood flow to lung is slowed down that increases lung pressure and results in enlargement of heart muscle.

There are numerous types of heart diseases. However, it is possible to avoid them and live a healthy life even while suffering from them. A balanced diet, exercise and healthy lifestyle can help you in living a normal life even with heart diseases.