Battling Heart and Stroke

By Keysha Karina

Ischemic Heart Disease we can include people with personal or family history of:
~heart attack (myocardial infarction)-when a part of heart muscle is permanently damaged or actually dies because there’s not enough oxygen.
~unstable angina-is an intermediary between myocardial infarction and stable angina.It’s manifestation is a severe chest pain that lasts more than stable angina and it doesn’t respond very well to medication.
~angina-is a chest discomfort which occurs when the coronary vessels receive an inadequate blood flow.
~atherosclerosis-occurs when fatty material deposite into the arteries walls. This can lead to a blockage of the arteries.

Other risk factors for Ischemic Heart Disease are:
~hypertension (high blood pressure)- blood pressure can vary with activity and with age, but a healthy adult who is resting generally has a systolic pressure reading between 120 and 130 and a diastolic pressure reading between 80 and 90 (or below).
~diabetes-heart problems are the leading cause of death among people with diabetes, especially in the case of non-insulin-dependent diabetes also known as Type II diabetes.

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By Eric Hartwell

Heart attacks are a common form of ischemic heart disease. The World Health Organization estimated in the year 2002 that over twelve percent of all worldwide deaths arose as a result of ischemic heart disease. In developed countries, it is the leading cause of death. In developing countries, however it comes third behind AIDS and lower respiratory infections.

Heart attacks, known by their medical name of acute myocardial infarction, is a state of disease that involves the interruption of the bloody supply to part of the heart. The result is a shortage of oxygen that can damage the heart tissue and potentially kill. Heart attacks are the leading cause of death all over the world. Major heart attack risk factors include a history of angina or vascular disease, a previous stroke or heart attack, old age, excessive alcohol, the abuse of illegal drugs, smoking, episodes of abnormal heart beat, obesity, high levels of stress, high or low cholesterol, high triglyceride levels, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

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By Eric Hartwell

Coronary Heart Disease is also known as atherosclerotic heart disease, coronary artery disease, and ischaemic heart disease. It comes about as the result of atheromatous plaques clogging the arteries that supply the heart’s muscle, which is known as the myocardium. The symptoms of coronary heart disease often do not reveal themselves until several decades after the fact, oftentimes in the result of a severe heart attack. After years of accumulation the plaques can rupture, and thus limit the amount of blood that flows to the heart muscle, resulting in the heart attack. Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of sudden death. For men and women of advanced age, it is the most common cause of death.

When it comes to heart disease, atherosclerotic heart disease entails a wide spectrum. At one end you have asymptomatic people whose disease is characterized by atheromatous streaks inside the walls of the coronary arteries. The streaks do not obstruct the blood flow, but rather represent the earliest stage of atherosclerotic heart disease. During this phase of the disease, a coronary angiogram may or may not show any signs that it is present. This is due to the fact that the coronary artery’s lumen has not decreased in caliber.

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