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Researched by Rachel F.
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Introduction
The heart is made up of cardiac muscle. There are four main chambers
of the human heart: the right ventricle, left ventricle, right atrium,
and left atrium. Cardiovascular Disease is heart disease. It is the
number one killer of men and women in this day and age. Many people
die each day because of heart disease.
Basic Facts
The Human heart is one solid and hollow organ. This organ is
made up of cardiac muscle. Cardiac muscle is only found in the heart
because it helps pump blood through the body so it can give the oxygen
and nutrients that the body needs to survive.
Parts of the Human Heart
There are many different parts of the heart. All of these
parts like the ventricles, atrium, tricuspid, coronary arteries, arteries,
and veins all work together to give the body what it needs. The ventricles
do most of the pumping while the atrium, which is placed right above the
ventricles, is a temporary storing place for the blood. The blood
goes through a one-way valve at each exit of the atrium, which includes
the tricuspid. The tricuspid is the three-pointed valve that lets
the blood in the atrium flow into the right ventricle. Coronary arteries
are the arteries that supply the blood with
Oxygen to the heart it self.
Diseases
Coronary artery disease or CAD is a disease affecting the arteries
surrounding the heart that supplies blood. CAD can be caused when
the coronary arteries become clogged by a combination of plaque such as
cholesterol, calcium, and other fats as well as certain other elements
carried in the blood.
To help correct coronary artery disease there is a procedure
called percutaneous transluminal coronary angeoplasty or P.T.C.A.
This nonsurgical procedure involves a guiding catheter. The guiding
catheter pushes through an artery to the place where it is clogged.
Then pushes a balloon catheter through the guiding catheter. At the
end of the balloon catheter there is a little part that inflates and pushes
the plaque down like a garbage compressor. This then helps blood
flow better through the artery than before. Although after this procedure
is finished the heart patient may have to go in for another P.T.C.A. because
the arteries may clog up again after a few years.
Risk Factors
Some risk factors can be fixed, helped, or not helped at all. Some risk like smoking double the risk of heart disease. High cholesterol, high blood pressure, and stress all increase the chances of disease also. Then there are some risks that can’t be fixed at all. They are being male rather than female, aging, and family history. Some risks like obesity and diabetes can not always be fixed, but they can be helped. All of the risk factors can be at lest helped by exercising and eat right.
Exercising
Exercising can help reduce the risk of heart disease. Doing little activities like walking, jogging, or bicycling can help. Some other activities such as swimming, hiking, roller skating, jump rope, weight lifting, and sports all burn fat and lower cholesterol to keep a healthy and active heart.
Eating Right
Everybody needs to keep a healthy heart as well as a healthy body. To make sure these two very important things stay healthy you must eat right. The ways to keep them in good shape you need to eat a lot of fruits, vegetables grains, and dairy. Also have a low fat, low cholesterol, and low salt diet. If you eat high fat, high cholesterol and, high salt meals than you may get heart problems. Or it can lead to obesity then to heart trouble.
Medications
Many different medications do many different things to the heart.
Some will strengthen the heart, lower blood pressure and, prevent formation
of blood clots. Some will also remove excess fluids, relax the walls
of the blood vessels, regulate the heartbeat, and many other things.
Medications don’t fix defective valves of the heart nor do they eliminate
plaque blockages in the coronary arteries to, but they are very helpful
when it comes to reducing symptoms and improving the patient’s life with
heart disease.
Coronary Bypass Surgery
Coronary bypass surgery is done to allow the blood to flow around the blockage in the coronary artery. To accomplish a bypass, surgeons will use a graft A blood vessel from the chest or the leg. One end of the graft is attached to the aorta while the other end is sewn on a little beyond the blockage in the artery. After this is done the bypass is over and the blood can flow freely through the artery again.
Heart Attacks
Heart attacks accuse when plaque builds to a blockage in a blood vessel in the heart. They can also occur when a blood clot forms on a small piece of plaque and blocks off most of the blood flowing to the heart. When one of those two happen the nutrient and oxygen can’t get to the heart, or to the other parts of the body. As this happens the heart slowly starts to die.
Heart Valve Disease
The heart valve is a structure that is made up of two or three
flaps. It opens and closes depending on how high the blood pressure
is. A normal valve is flexible enough to let the blood through, but strong
enough to hold back the up coming flow of blood and close.
Valve disease is when one or more valves in the heart are defective.
Stenosis is when a valve is not opening properly. Regurgitation is
when a valve is not closing all the way. They call this a "Leaky"
valve. Some defective valves aren’t that big of a problem, when it
comes to the heart functioning right, but some valve defects over time
may get worse while the pumping of the heart gets weaker and tiered.
Heart Valve Surgery
If a patient has a defective valve that is causing he or she heart problems, the most common way to fix it is to have heart valve replacement. This is when the heart surgeons replace the defective valve with an artificial heart valve. Some times when the patient has a defective valve that isn’t to server the heart surgeons then might decide to do valve repair. Valve repair is when the surgeons may sew a torn leaflet back together, or may repair the valve by cutting the leaflets apart.
This has told you all about different heart problems that you
can prevent. It has also told you how to keep your heart healthy
and well.
Conclusion
The Human Heart is very interesting considering all the different
parts and things that go on inside of it. Our health depends on a
well functioning heart. Every person should know as much as possible
about their heart to live a long and health life.
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