Tag: coronary artery disease

A Deadly Substance That Could Form in the Body

All vertebrates need cholesterol to sustain health of the outer membrane cells. It circulates in the blood to settle in body tissues and blood plasma in forms of fatty lipids (steroids) and alcohol. Cholesterol is maintained to balanced levels that must not exceed what our body needs.

Today, when every ready food could just be fished out from fast foods and other busy traffic-highway-eateries, all you need is to be concerned about eliminating idle (unwanted) additional intake of this substance that affects a great general health disadvantage impact in today’s generation.

Let us educate first on how Cholesterol functions and affects body metabolic interference before we ever discuss eliminating its excesses. When a doctor mentions of cholesterol, he is definitely addressing such to the low-density lipoproteins (LDL), considered the “bad cholesterol.” The way lipoproteins act as the carrier molecules, it deposit the LDL to the walls of the arteries that cause it to thicken and become devoid of normal blood passage causing arthrosclerosis. High-density lipoprotein is “good cholesterol.”

One of the various uses of good cholesterol act as anti-oxidant, and help manufacture bile, that aids to digest fats essential to the functions of fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. All these mentioned vitamins help in the metabolism functions in the reproductive organs, from puberty developmental process until the ripe age, that has to do with the effects of estrogen level in the body.

Main Sources of Good Cholesterol:

1. Three-fourth (75%) of it comes from within the body, or produced internally thru results from synthesizing from densely packed membranes like liver, central nervous system (spinal chord, includes brain), reproductive organs, adrenal gland, and atheroma. The degenerative changes in the atheroma result to development of atherosclerotic plaques and coronary artery disease that affect the natural flow of the blood. When this happens it causes sudden block of the in and out flow of blood from the heart; most of the time causing heart strokes, possibly fatal.

2. One fourth (25%) comes from our food intake (external source), and this is where you must be alerted on what to take in your daily diet. Fats originated from animals are rich in cholesterol, like egg yolk, dairy, and meat, regardless of whatever type in meat source. Observe keenly about tolerating excess of this second cholesterol essential for as you see, it takes only a last portion of that last quart necessary. A mistake in this will surely make up for “cholesterol imbalance.”

Ways to Lower Idle Cholesterol (excess of the 25% Food Originated Cholesterol):

– Select intake of fats from non-saturated cooking oil or direct fat sources from animals. One of the best cooking oil that produce unsaturated fat is olive oil. Other palm oils like coconut are highly saturated. Take low-content-sodium cholesterol fats; instead, eat high fiber vegetables and fruits, and complex carbohydrates. Examples of this are corn, soybeans and legumes, nuts, wheat, and other staple cereals.

– Refrain from eating at Fast foods and other restaurants, they present high fat saturated foods and rich in sodium. Also remember, that alcohol and sugar enhance the degree of cholesterol level, so avoid excessive hard drink sprays.

– Recent researches reveal that the presence of the Omega-3 fat acid present in Salmon, mackerel, certain tuna specie, and other deep sea hunts aids in lowering idle cholesterol.

If Idle Cholesterol is raised to high levels, seek medications as HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, Statins, such as lovastatin (Mevacor), and atorvastatin (Liptor), most effective to lower LD, of course with physician’s guidance.

What is Congestive Heart Failure?

It’s a terrifying moment for many patients: the moment when the doctor enters their hospital room and informs them they are suffering from congestive heart failure. Many people do not know what congestive heart failure is or what it means for their life, and they ask themselves, “Is congestive heart failure the end of my world as I know it?”

Congestive heart failure occurs when for whatever reason the heart is unable to effectively pump the blood through the body. This usually occurs when the heart muscle is weak due to disease or stressed beyond its ability to function. Congestive heart failure is usually a secondary disease following another cardiac condition, primarily either coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathies, myocarditis, valvular disease, or cardiac arrhythmias, with coronary artery disease carrying the poorest prognosis. It may also follow a myocardial infarction, renal failure, sepsis or severe anemia.

Each side of the heart has a different function, and therefore will have a slightly different effect on the body when it is unable to fulfill that function. If it is the left side of the heart that has failed accumulation of fluid in and around the lungs will cause the patient to experience difficulty breathing, and the kidneys will respond to the reduced blood in the circulation by retaining fluid as well. If it is the right side that fails the excess fluid accumulates in the venous system, giving the patient a generalized edema that becomes more severe as their condition deteriorates.

Dyspnea is the prevalent presenting symptom in congestive heart failure, although the severity will vary from patient to patient. Some will possess perfectly normal pulmonary function until under exertion, such as while exercising, walking up stairs or mowing their lawn; others will have so much fluid accumulated that simply rising from bed in the morning will prove difficult. These patients will also usually become easily fatigued due to a lack of oxygen to the tissues. Heart failure will also cause a condition known as pitting edema, in which the body retains fluid to the point that when pressure is applied to specific spot on the body the indentation remains (non-pitting edema is not caused by heart failure).

Treatment of congestive heart failure consists primarily of treating the symptoms. Vital signs should be taken regularly, and often diuretics will be prescribed to facilitate expulsion of accumulated fluid from the body. While in the hospital fluid intake and output will be measured very carefully. Patients will probably be placed in an upright position to assist in moving fluid from around the heart and lungs, given potassium supplements and prescribed bed rest for a period of time. BUN levels and serum creatinine, potassium, sodium, chloride and bicarbonate levels are monitered frequently by a physician.

There are several factors that contribute to congestive heart failure and, if diagnosed, should be treated and maintained. These include hypertension, anemia or poycythemia, endocrine disorders, malnutrition, drug or alcohol use and obesity. Therefore, it is very important that patients suffering from congestive heart failure pay particular attention to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. A doctor can aid in establishing the best diet and exercise plan with each individual to prevent placing undue stress on the heart and lungs.

While no said cure exists for congestive heart failure and the prognosis varies from case to case, by following a strict diet and exercise program, taking all prescribed medications regularly and maintaining a close relationship with their physicians many patients who suffer from heart failure can continue to lead a fairly normal life.

How Doctors are Using Their Skills to Combat Congestive Heart

How Doctors are Using Their Skills to Combat Congestive Heart Failure

Congestive heart failure is an insidious opponent, possessing a slow onset that results in a patient often not even noticing they are having symptoms. Over time the patient will suffer from worsening dyspnea and edema that will eventually drive them to seek treatment, where they will discover that for whatever reason their heart is no longer able to function properly.

Heart failure occurs when the cells of the heart tissue are either destroyed or made non-functional due to another cardiac event, often secondary to ischemic heart disease or coronary artery disease. As a result, the heart is no longer able to pump the blood throughout the body properly; instead the blood pools, resulting in fluids being retained rather than excreted properly and oxygen starved organs being unable to function. The death of these cells is critical because, like brain cells, once the cells of the heart die the body is unable to reproduce them and restore full function to the heart. Congestive heart failure carries with it a high mortality rate, with over fifty percent of its victims dying within five years of being diagnosed. Doctors and researchers are able to use modern advancements in medicine to make the patient more comfortable and, in many cases, to provide them with a more favorable prognosis.

Many patients do not even discover that they have suffered heart failure until they are brought into the Emergency Department of their local hospital complaining of chest pain and difficulty breathing. Doctors will stabilize them there, giving them supplemental oxygen and beginning a course of medicinal treatment that will carry them out of the hospital.

Modern science has provided physicians with a wide array of methods with which to combat the damage done by congestive heart failure. Once oxygen is returned to an acceptable level a physician will usually administer a diuretic to stimulate the renal system to pull fluid out of circulation, relieving the edema and taking a great of stress off of the lungs, heart and other organs. This will also usually be accompanied by supplemental potassium, as the renal system will remove potassium along with the excess fluid and hypokalemia carries with it its own hazards.

A great deal of attention in the field of medicine has been focused on the body’s production of angiotensin II as it aggravates congestive heart failure. Angiotensin II is a substance produced by the body which raises blood pressure and causes the blood vessels to constrict, thereby forcing the heart to work much harder to pump blood throughout the body. An ACE inhibitor will often be administered to prevent the body from making angiotensin II, and an angiotensin receptor blocker is available to those who do not respond as desired to the ACE inhibitor. Many patients with heart problems are given nitroglycerin for this reason.

Along with medicine, research into the field of congestive heart failure is ongoing. The speculated use of stem cells, particularly embryonic stem cells, has opened a whole field of debate for possible treatment of heart failure in the science community. Patients with congestive heart failure were given some of their own stem cells in the heart via injection, and all reacted favorably. Scientists are unsure as to whether this is because the stem cells aid the body in growing new vessels or simply act as a lighthouse for the body’s natural healing mechanisms, drawing other cells to the site of the damage. Whichever the case may be, stem cells present a fascinating opportunity to finally find a means by which to restore heart function to patients who have suffered heart failure.

Modern science is providing a whole new world of treatment options to patients with congestive heart failure, and researchers are making new discoveries all the time. It is the hope of all of those in the medical field that one day heart failure will be another disease medicine has the answer to.

Heart Failure

Whenever cardiac conditions develop these conditions, weaken or damage your heart, which leads to heart failure. In a weakened condition, the heart over time can no longer keep up with even the normal demands placed on it. The ventricles may become stiff and not fill properly between beats. The heart ventricles stretch (dilate) to the point that the heart cannot pump blood efficiently throughout your body. The failing pump causes blood and fluid to back up throughout your circulatory system. The circulatory system consists of your lungs, legs, feet and ankles. The kidneys retain excess water and sodium. All this builds up is the congestive part of your heart failure. The lung congestion occurs only with left-sided heart failure with fluid backing up into the lungs. The most common cause of right sided heart failure is left sided heart failure.

When the fluid fills up the left side of the heart the pressure in the lungs passes to the right side of the heart, which then fails. The fluid then collects in the abdomen and lower extremities which all leads up to heart failure. Heart Failure develops quickly after a heart attack. The heart failure can also develop after years of high blood pressure or coronary artery disease. A defective valve may cause heart failure. A heart valve replacement in this case will prevent heart failure. A specialist normally does the surgical part, which is a cardiologist.

Many times people think that such things cause heart failure as smoking, being overweight or eating foods high in cholesterol and fat but there is a condition known as idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy were the heart weakens without explanation. This condition will also cause you congestive heart failure if not properly taken seriously.

You might be suffering from if you have heart failure several conditions. These conditions can weaken your heart over time and be present without you being aware that you have the problem. The follow is a brief description of some conditions that affect the heart:

– The most common cause of heart failure is Coronary artery disease. A process called atherosclerosis, which is a build up of fatty deposits in the arteries. This fatty build up causes the blood to narrow a process called plaque, which leaves chronically deprived of oxygen-rich blood pump less vigorously. A heart attack occurs if an unstable plaque not function well it will cause a blood clot in turn completely blocks the blood flow to an area of the heart muscle. This is one of the most common causes of heart failure.

– There are several other reasons that might cause heart failure but we shall discuss the next highest reason for now. High Blood Pressure (hypertension) is the force of blood pumped by your heart through your arteries. When your blood pressure is high then your heart has to work harder causing failure.

Take your cardiologists advice watch your weight and exercise your on the way to a heart healthy way of life.