Cardiovascular disease

Heart disease
There are many kinds of heart disease, but the two most common ones
are angina and myocardial infarction (heart attack). Both of these
diseases are closely linked to the formation of the atherosclerosis.
Plaques can build up slowly in the coronary arteries, reducing blood flow
to other parts of the heart muscle beyond the plaques. For much of the
time the person will be unaware that a problem is developing. Often
symptoms are first noticed during exercise, when the cardiac muscle is
working harder and needs more oxygen. The narrowed coronary arteries
cannot supply enough oxygenated blood and the heart muscle has to
resort to anaerobic respiration. This causes a gripping pain in the chest,
which can extend into the arms, particularly the left one, and jaw. It can
often make you feel breathless as well. This is angina. The symptoms will
subside once exercise stops, but it is very painful and frightening.
Fortunately most angina is relatively mild. Eating a low fat diet, taking
regular exercise and not smoking can help it. The symptoms can be
treated by drugs that cause rapid dilation of the coronary blood vessels
so that they supply the cardiac muscle with the oxygen it needs. However,
if the blockage of the coronary arteries gets worse, the symptoms of
angina will get worse to. Other drugs are then used to dilate the blood
vessels, and reduce the heart rate. Unfortunately the drugs cannot solve
the problem permantly so bypass surgery may be carried out.
If one of the branches of the coronary artery becomes completely
blocked, part of the heart muscle will be starved of oxygen and the
person will suffer a myocardial infarction or heart attack.
A blood cot as a result of atherosclerosis causes many heart attacks. The
wall of an artery affected by a plaque is stiffened, making it much more
likely to suffer cracks or damage. Platelets come into contact with the
damaged surface of the plaque and the clotting cascade is triggered. The
plaque itself may break open, and the cholesterol that is released also
causes the platelets to trigger the blood clotting process. A clot may
even for simply because the endothelial lining is damaged, for example by
high blood pressure or smoking. A clot that forms in a blood vessel is
known as thrombosis. The clot can rapidly block the whole blood vessel,
particularly if it is already narrowed by a plaque. A clot that gets stuck in

a coronary artery is known as coronary thrombosis. The clot can block the
artery, starving the heart muscle beyond the point of oxygen and
nutrients, and this often leads to a heart attack.
Strokes
A stroke is caused by an interruption to the normal blood supply in an
area of the rain. This may be bleeding from damaged capillaries, or a
blockage cutting off the blood supply to the brain, usually by a blood clot,
an atheroma or a combination of the two. Sometimes the blood clot forms
somewhere else in the body and is carried in the blood stream until it
gets stuck in an artery in the brain. The damage happens very quickly. A
blockage in one of the main arteries leading to the brain causes a very
serious stroke that may lead to death. If one of the smaller arterioles
leading into the brain breaks the effects would be less disastrous.
The symptoms of strokes vary, depending on how much of the brain is
affected. Very often the blood is cut off from one part or side of the
brain only. The symptoms include dizziness, confusion, slurred speech, and
blurred vision or loss of part of vision and numbness. In more severe
strokes there can be paralysis, usually just down one side of the body.
The outcome of a stroke or heart attack is fairly simple, the sooner you
get treated the greater chance of surving.