Heart disease

The situation in the modern world is such that day by day, heart disease determines the constant increase in the number of deaths from these pathologies, as well as complications from large vessels and the peripheral channel. Their pathogenesis is often genetically mediated or has an infectious nature. More often, in the etiology of cardiac pathologies, an unhealthy lifestyle and initiation into bad habits are revealed, which can be actively involved in prevention and suppressed.

The variety of heart diseases causes a large number of their etiological causes, symptoms and syndromes, methods of radical and conservative treatment.

Basics of classification

The variety of heart diseases mediated the need for their systematic classification.

The etiological cause served as the main criterion for dividing heart problems into five groups:

1. Pathological phenomena associated with rheumatic damage to the valves of the heart and myocardium.
2. Functional changes in the body, which are associated with its overload and wear.
3. Congenital anomalies of the structure of the heart, additional chords, septal defects in the heart.
4. Atherosclerosis and arterial hypertension act as the main risk factors for the development of pathological conditions of the heart, which is their main target organ. Thrombosis of the vessels supplying the heart determines the development of ischemia of myocardial regions, the death of which implies a heart attack.
5. Damage to the heart by syphilitic infection.

A certain number of pathologies cannot be defined under any item of this classification. Thus, fibrillation of the atrial chambers of the heart has a complex, not reliably studied etiology. The essence of the disorder does not allow the heart to contract properly, which affects the gas and nutritional supply of organs. A similar picture of increasing heart failure is also present with atrial flutter. Paroxysmal tachycardia of unknown origin also gives a dysfunctional state, when frequent heart contractions contribute to blood regurgitation and wear out the heart muscle.

Any heart disease forms the prerequisites for heart failure.

It may not appear immediately, but after the patient returns from the hospital to his usual life and work schedule.

Fundamentals of the pathogenesis of various diseases

This classification is convenient for the work of a doctor, since the establishment of the etiology of heart disease largely determines the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of pathologies.

Rheumatic pathologies in the heart, as an element included in the list of the most common diseases, have a viral or infectious provoking agent.

Any layer of the heart can be involved in the inflammatory reaction:

1. The lining of the heart in immune inflammation is called endocarditis.
2. An inflammatory change in the outer membrane is called pericarditis.
3. When the heart muscle is involved in the process, the heart disease is called myocarditis.

Any of these pathologies with aggressive infections and inadequate treatment can have an irreversible course. Viral or infectious microflora can migrate through the bloodstream, involving new organs in the process. Dangerous and infectious damage to the valves, which begin to work incorrectly, skip an incomplete portion of blood, and capture some of it back. In such cases, inflammatory diseases of the heart determine the increase in the load on it, provoking dilatation and hypertrophy of the cardiac sections.

The target for sexually transmitted bacteria is often the aortic valve or the wide aortic arch itself:

1. These anatomical objects become thinned and weakened, may partially atrophy and collapse.
2. Their damage to the structure makes the work of the heart dysfunctional due to the fact that cardiac output is difficult.
3. The atrophied valve is no longer an obstacle to the reverse flow of blood, it freely enters the ventricle during diastolic relaxation.
4. The constant excess volume of blood in the left ventricle gives symptoms of heart failure and many other complications.

Atherosclerotic vasoconstriction cannot but affect the state of the heart. Arterial hypertension increases growth and preload on the main muscular organ. The complex effect of these pathologies on a weakened heart gives pronounced symptoms of heart failure, which imply emergency treatment.

Atherosclerosis and hypertension rarely develop separately and often represent a comorbidity.

All associated complications have specific reasons for development:

1. Disorders of cholesterol metabolism and other types of metabolism occur in the human body due to natural aging processes. Not only the intensity of metabolism decreases, but the receptor function of many cellular elements and structures fades.
2. Some factors harmful to the heart are mediated by a person himself. This applies to the presence of bad habits, initiation to alcoholism, smoking, drug addiction.
3. Alimentary errors are noted as a separate bad habit regarding the development of atherosclerosis. A diet high in saturated fat significantly raises cholesterol levels, the main component of plaque buildup. Irrational nutrition also determines the presence of excess weight due to the fat depot, which needs its own arterial network. The additional volume of blood is reflected on the heart by the formation of an additional load.
4. Chronic stress and emotional experiences disturb homeostasis through the production of catabolic hormones, the action of which is also reflected in the heart.

In the clinical practice of a doctor, congenital pathology of the vessels and the heart is often found in the form of various anomalies.

Deadly pathologies among them have not been established, and they are often detected by chance during routine examinations or the diagnosis of other diseases of organs or systems. Some heart diseases develop in utero, so even a newborn baby has some pathological symptoms. Thus, the narrowing of the diameter of the aorta or the so-called stenosis determines the high pressure in the upper half of the body, while the lower limbs are supplied with blood at a relatively low level. This disease is dangerous with the threat of hemorrhage in the brain and other vital organs of the upper floor of the body.

The list of congenital pathologies also includes organ anomalies that lead to mixing of blood and inadequate blood supply. They are associated with defects in the septa between the chambers, preservation of the duct of the pulmonary artery and the aorta.

Signs of such disorders are manifested:

• cyanosis of the face and upper body;
• thickening of the nail phalanges;
• an abnormally high number of red blood cells.

Some underdevelopment can get just the pulmonary artery. Then the blood will not be sufficiently aerated, which gives patients signs of hypoxia.

Functional disorders of the heart are not reflected in malfunctions of the organ. They occur against the background of poisoning, severe intoxication and stress, and the abuse of tobacco and caffeine-containing drinks leads to them.

Symptoms and signs that indicate insufficiency of cardiac function are varied:

1. Physical activity provokes shortness of breath, chest pain. The patient is unable to perform the usual amount of work.
2. Irresistible weakness can also appear separately, outside of stress. The sleep and rest regimen may be disturbed, at night the patients suffer from nightmares.
3. The respiratory system often suffers from pathologies of the heart. Patients have attacks of shortness of breath and feelings of lack of air, which increase in the afternoon. The position of orthopnea or the raised head end of the bed somewhat alleviates the condition of patients.
4. Patients with cardiac pathology often have a pronounced edematous syndrome. Pastosity begins with the feet and legs in the late afternoon. Edema can grow and cover even the abdominal cavity with the development of ascites.

It should be noted that these symptoms do not have specificity, which forces careful differential diagnosis with a variety of somatic diseases of various organs and systems.

Preventive actions

Treatment of cardiac pathologies is sometimes difficult due to their complex etiological causes and pathogenesis. Even ancient philosophers argued that it is more profitable for the patient and the doctor to engage in disease prevention, rather than their complex multi-level therapy. This opinion is still present today, especially when it comes to heart disease. Every person should take care of this important muscular organ from a young age, as its well-coordinated work ensures adequate activity and functionality of other organ systems.

Preventing heart disease starts small. First of all, the first step to help a damaged heart will be a timely visit to a doctor.

The primary examination is carried out by a general practitioner who can prescribe minimal treatment.

If heart disease poses a threat to the life and work of the patient, he visits more narrow specialists:

• cardiologist;
• vascular surgeon.

The list of clinicians expands if the patient has a concomitant pathology that requires its own diagnosis and treatment.

Often, patients begin to treat heart symptoms on their own, focusing on the experience of close relatives, neighbors and acquaintances. However, their recommended treatment may not help each individual patient and cause other disorders and disorders in him. Those close to them may incorrectly indicate the names of the drugs that saved their lives, do not remember their dosages and regimen, confuse their symptoms and the reasons for the development of poor health. Only in the conditions of a polyclinic or inpatient examination, it is possible to establish the causes of cardiovascular pathology and etiotropically receive adequate treatment for your condition.

Naturally, the examination begins with a simple examination and simple diagnostic measures:

• temperature measurements;
• pulse;
• respiratory rate;
• blood pressure.

But this list of measures already determines the tactics of the doctor: what symptoms will be the main ones in the clinical picture, what are their causes, what treatment will be required.

Additionally, the following may be assigned:

1. You should not be afraid of stress tests, which are used to assess the state of the heart in stressful moments that occur in every person in everyday life. The procedure is simple in its essence, it consists in monitoring the patient's condition with the help of an ECG device at the moment when he walks on a treadmill or exercises on an exercise bike.
2. The causes of cardiac pathologies are also established by more complex diagnostic measures. Angiographic examination of the vessels more fully reveals the picture of the blood supply to organs that experience enzymatic or any other functional deficiency.

Do not be afraid of the fact that the diagnosis of cardiac pathology, in particular, ischemic heart disease, determines the treatment for life. The therapeutic plan will be constantly adjusted and supplemented, since the effectiveness of treatment is determined precisely by this. And only constant visits to leading specialists will determine a favorable prognosis for the life of patients with heart disease, no matter what the complications on their part. The placement of a temporary or permanent pacemaker, complex bypass surgery, significantly prolongs the life of patients who already thought their days were numbered.

Psychotherapists also provide assistance to patients with cardiac pathology, using innovative methods of psychological assistance.

The activities of these doctors help patients:

• deal with depression
• relieve emotional stress, feelings of fatigue and anxiety;
• get healthy sleep.

Adequate mental behavior of the patient is a prerequisite for the prompt correction of cardiovascular problems and relief of emergency conditions.