Coronary heart disease – things you must know
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Loading... - Antea Vukovic
- 06 Jun 2022
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Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one cause of death globally. Study shows that with certain precautions, one can significantly lower the risk of having a heart attack. A description of the causes, symptoms, preventive measures and other important facts about heart diseases has been provided below.
What are heart diseases?
Heart disease or cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a broad term that describes the different diseases and conditions affecting the heart, and blood vessels. They include coronary heart diseases, strokes, aneurysms, rheumatic heart disease, thrombosis, arrhythmia, angina, ischemia, heart failures, cardiomyopathy, etc.
Am I at risk of developing CVD? – the risk factors
A risk factor is defined as "something that increases the risk", especially something that makes a person more likely to get a particular disease or condition.
There are many risk factors involved in CVD, which can be categorised into two groups: behavioural risk factors and biomedical risk factors.
Behavioural risk factors are modifiable and include smoking, a poor diet heavy in added sugars, fats, and sodium (salt), lack of any physical activity and exertion, and heavy alcohol consumption.
Biomedical risk factors are high blood pressure or hypertension, high cholesterol, high blood lipids, diabetes, and obesity.
Other risk factors include a family history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and genetics, age, sex, depression, emotional stress, inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatic fever, poor dental health, etc.
Symptoms of different types of cardiovascular diseases
As we all know, high blood pressure is the silent killer as people who have hypertension do not usually have symptoms. Often a heart attack or a stroke is the first symptom of any underlying cardiovascular disease (CVD). Overall, the symptoms of heart diseases are more or less the same with some variation depending on the disease.
Some common symptoms of heart diseases are chest pain, chest discomfort/heaviness/pressure, shortness of breath, palpitations, faster heartbeat, dizziness, sweating, nausea, pain or discomfort in the jaw, shoulders, arms, neck, back, etc.
Can I prevent heart diseases from happening to me?
Yes, you can definitely take preventive measures to lower your risk of heart disease. As mentioned previously, taking action to modify the behavioural risk factors can significantly reduce your chances of developing cardiovascular diseases. Some ways have been stated below —
Quit smoking
Smoking drastically raises the chances of developing atherosclerosis or plaque in the blood vessels, which subsequently increases your chances of developing cardiovascular diseases. So, it is quintessential to avoid smoking and to quit smoking if you are already a smoker. Read More...
