heart disease:
heart disease is a general term that refers to a variety of acute and chronicmedical conditions that affect one or more of the components of the heart. Theblood that the heart moves carries oxygen and nutrients throughout the body andtransports carbon dioxide and other wastes away. Internally,the heart is essentially hollow. Venous blood enters the
right side of theheart through the right atrium and is pumped by the right ventricle to thelungs. Four heart valves regulate the direction and flow of blood through theheart. The heart muscle itself is
called the myocardium. Lining the chambers ofthe heart and the valves is a membrane called the endocardium. Encasing theoutside of the heart is the pericardium – a layered membrane that is fibrous onthe outside and serous (fluid-secreting) on the inside. Anything that damagesthe heart, makes it less efficient, reduces its ability to fill and pump, ordecreases the heart’s supply of oxygen will disrupt the coordinated relationshipbetween the heart, kidneys, and blood vessels and will harm not only the heartbut the rest of the body as well. Diseases of the heart and blood vessels killmore than 16 million people worldwide and account for 30 percent of the totalnumber of deaths each year. Heart disease and stroke, the main components ofcardiovascular disease, account for nearly 40 percent of all deaths in thenation.Decades ofresearch show that lifestyle, beginning in childhood, is the main cause ofcardiovascular disease. Lifestyle changes are the first line of prevention andtreatment of cardiovascular disease. In this operation, a blood vessel from arteriesthat arise from the aorta and supply the tissues of the heart with blood). Andthe sage advice often given to men with heart disease might need a tweak or twoto be useful in women.The study,called WISE, short for Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation, found among otherthings that the gold standard test for assessing
coronary artery disease — thecoronary angiogram — may not spot the more diffuse buildup of
plaques thatoften forms in the smaller coronary arteries of women's hearts.But recentstatistics have shown that the rate of heart disease has declined in men butnot in women. and one of the WISE investigators. This may be due to the smallerarteries involved or because in men, the bulky, unstable plaques tend to burstopen whereas in women, plaques erode, exposing the inner layers of the artery.Endothelialdysfunction — in which the lining of the artery doesn't expand (dilate) properlyto boost blood flow during activity — increases the risk of coronary arteryspasm and sudden death.Women andsome doctors don't recognize the symptoms of heart attack in women. However,the bottom line message stays the same.
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