Most people struggle with cholesterol and heart health because they do not understand the dynamics that cause heart problems, or result in a healthy heart. The mix is corrupted by the fact that age, diet, alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, physical activity, and disease has a dynamic impact on the heart’s health.
Blood is alive. It needs to be fed and nurtured. Healthy blood promotes a healthy body, and a healthy heart.
The heart is pump located in the chest blood is depleted of oxygen while circulating through the body. Then the blood flows into the right ventricle, which pumps the blood out to the lungs for oxygenation.
Pressure is created when the heart contracts. To work right, the heart muscle needs to be healthy, and the arteries clear enough to accept the oxygenated blood.
The heart is nourished by the blood supplied to the heart through the coronary arteries. So, in fact, the strength of the heart depends on the blood supply.
A healthy heart has elastic coronary arteries that are flexible. The inner lining of the artery is smooth. This allows the blood to flow without clotting.
Almost 1.5 million Americans have a heart attack each year, or that is 1 heart attack every 20 seconds, with a 1/3 fatality rate. Currently, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the USA.
Understanding the importance of blood is the first step in understanding how to prevent a diseased heart. Once you understand that blood is alive then it is possible to establish a heart attack prevention program.
Heart attack prevention starts by monitoring and modifying certain risk factors. These risk factors are interrelated – there is no one stand alone risk factor. This is where people run into problems. They treat one risk factor, or one symptom, and leave the rest of their system. The entire system is co-dependent on each other. If the blood is not healthy, the heart will not be healthy. If the heart muscle is not healthy, blood pressure will have a detrimental effect on the heart and arteries.
Each of us may have one or more risk factors. If we make moderate change in one area of life, we may reduce other risk factors at the same time.
The most misunderstood aspect of heart health is believing that exercise and diet automatically equals a healthy heart. This is not true. In some cases, a healthy diet will not correct high cholesterol. Exercise will not improve the effectiveness of a weak heart.
This is why drugs and doctors are needed. Heart health is a partnership between the doctor and the patient. A doctor cannot single-handedly protect a patient from a heart attack. A patient cannot protect themselves without the assistance of a doctor.
In a very liberal way, a healthy heart depends on a collaboration between doctor and patient. A patient should consult their doctor before taking any supplements or changing their diet. This does not mean the patient must ask permission – instead, the patient should instigate educated conversations with their doctor.
Patients should take an active roll in their own health program if they want to enjoy a high quality of life right to the end – whenever that might be.
Ethan Miller
http://www.articlesbase.com/medicine-articles/understanding-heart-disease-114288.html
11 comments ↓
How does smoking cause heart disease?
I've heard that smoking causes heart disease. I understand lung cancer is caused by mutations the genetic code of structures such as the alveoli, but I'm not too clear on how smoking may contribute to heart disease. Of course, as a stimulant that taxes the heart and lungs, nicotine may not exactly be the most healthful thing affecting the cardiovascular system, but no one blames caffeine for their cardiovascular maladies. What's the deal with smokes and heart disease?
It leads mostly to atherosclerosis (thickening of the arteries), plaque buildup, and thickened blood. All of which can contribute to cardivascular disease.
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Wow!
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Primarily, it suffocates all of your tissues for lack of oxygen, because carbon monoxide clings more tenaciously to hemoglobin than oxygen does, for some reason. Also, it causes inflammation of your tissues due to irritation and from immune suppression. Inflammation of coronary arteries leads to the build-up of fatty plaques as the body tries to protect itself from the irritant. When arteries are narrowed enough, the heart works harder and harder to provide oxygen to your tissues, and when they get narrow enough, heart attack, and death…
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it constricts your arteries and veins, robs your whole system of oxygen, it's full of poisons…. go to american heart association for a full in depth look at it
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When you smoke your blood takes carbon monoxide into it. ( a similar situation would be to get into your car and put the exaust pipe in through the window! ) It is not the nicotine that is the killer but the CO. When you sleep your body renews its self. BUT if theres CO in your blood however much you rest your heart will not. It will be working super hard to rid your body of that poisionous CO, pumping so hard to get it out when it should be resting, So if you smoke for a long time just think of all the extra work your heart will have to do.then think hy it may fail 20-40 yrs down the line!
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It causes vasoconstriction of the coronary arteries (heart's arteries). It contributes to atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries. Both of these increase the odds of one or more of the coronary arteries becoming clotted off by either build up of plaque or by a clot.
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It hardens the arteries, making the passage of the blood alot harder to travel…this is one of the reasons why heart patients take aspirin, since aspirin thins the blood, and allows it to pass through those hardened arteries…
My father died of CHD (Coronary Heart Disease) and he was an otherwise healthy man…He had an angina attack and 2 heart attacks…2 of his arteries were severely hardened and clogged…His cholesterol was normal as was his blood pressure and everything else…so what caused it? According to doctors it was his smoking!
If you are or know a smoker, learn from others' tragedies.
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Textually,
"Smoking: Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 health-threatening compounds, of which 200 are known poisons. Regardless of the number of toxins, however, there is little doubt about the devastating effect smoking has on one's health. Few other consumer products come close to tobacco in the number of deaths they cause. In the United States, for example, ten times more people die from tobacco-related illnesses than from automobile accidents. The World Health Organization estimates that on a global scale, smoking claims three million lives annually!
In addition to an increased risk of cancer and heart disease, smokers suffer more frequently from colds, gastric ulcers, chronic bronchitis, and higher blood pressure than nonsmokers. Smoking also diminishes one's sense of smell and taste. Clearly, giving up smoking is one of the most important preventive health measures an individual can take. But what about drugs and alcohol?"
Clear, doesn't it? Kind regards
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http://www.watchtower.org/library/g/1999/7/8/article_02.htm
I know from relevant literature that smoking is one of the worst offenders to making heart disease worse but I found most of my information at this site below – I recommend you have a look as it has substantial information and good links to heart related subjects including smoking and preventing heart disease. Much more information than I could put in this answer. I hope it helps.
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Information comes from http://coronary-artery-disease.net
Well, cuz the nicotine builds up in the arteries and therefore this causes the heart to struggle.
This is only one cause. Your diet will do the same thing. Along with age, of course.
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