Causes and symptoms of heart disease, treatment and prevention
Content:
- Causes of heart disease
- Heart disease symptoms
- Diagnosis of heart disease
- Treatment of heart defects
- Prevention of heart disease
What is heart disease?
Heart disease is a group of diseases in which there is a change in the structure and dysfunction of the heart valve. Heart failure includes concomitant (affecting several valves) and combined (on one valve) defects. Pathologies of this type lead to changes in the circulatory system inside the heart.
Heart defects are acquired, while there are violations of the structure of the heart and blood vessels, their effect is manifested by a violation of the functional ability of the heart and blood circulation. Among the acquired heart defects, the most common is the defeat of the mitral valve and the semilunar valve of the aorta. Valve defects include stenosis that occurs due to deformation and shortening of the valves and their incomplete closure, which is a consequence of inflammatory cicatricial adhesions.
Congenital malformations are an abnormal development of the heart, a violation in the formation of the main blood vessels during the prenatal period. Various forms of congenital heart defects can be mild and life-threatening. Among the developing fetal heart defects, most of all cases of defects of the interventricular and interatrial septa, persistent narrowing of the lumen and improper location of the great vessels.
Causes of heart disease
The reason for the development of congenital heart disease is the improper formation of heart cavities. Also, during the period of fetal development, there is a division of the primary common vascular trunk into the aorta and pulmonary artery. When a child is born into the world, he retains intrauterine features of blood circulation and develops pathologies of the heart. It can be a patent ductus arteriosus or an open foramen ovale.
With congenital defects, there may be isolated and complex damage to the heart or blood vessels, intrauterine defects of the valve apparatus. Rheumatism and rheumatic infective endocarditis are considered the main reasons for the development of acquired heart defects. Sometimes the pathology is caused by atherosclerosis, trauma, systemic diseases of the connective tissue. Acquired vices
Heart disease symptoms
There are compensated heart defects, which, as a rule, are secretive and decompensated, manifested by shortness of breath, heart palpitations, rapid fatigue, pain in the heart, and fainting. In mitral regurgitation, the left atrioventricular opening is not completely closed by the bicuspid valve during left ventricular systole, which causes blood to flow back into the atrium.
With compensated mitral heart disease, the contractility of the myocardium of the left heart is weakened. There is stagnation in the small and large circle of blood circulation. The decompensated form is manifested by edema of the lower extremities, enlarged liver, swelling of the veins of the neck. During this period, the development of stagnation in the small circle of blood circulation provokes cough, interruptions and pain in the heart, hemoptysis. Visually, the doctor identifies redness and cyanosis of the patient's skin.
Usually the compensation period passes without any major irregularities. Children with heart disease lag behind in physical development, become infantile, the appearance of a "heart hump" is observed.
Often, with heart defect, atrial fibrillation develops, systolic pressure decreases and diastolic pressure increases. Heart disease, in which aortic insufficiency is present, eventually leads to relative coronary insufficiency, patients feel strong tremors and pain in the heart. This is because the blood supply of the coronary arteries deteriorates at low pressure in the aorta during diastole and myocardial hypertrophy develops.
Symptoms of heart failure include headaches, throbbing in the head and neck. Patients are dizzy, they often faint, as there is a violation of the blood supply to the brain. When the contractile activity of the left ventricle is weakened, pallor of the skin is noted, caused by insufficient blood circulation in the artery in diastole.
Diagnosis of heart disease
This diagnosis can be established by pulse, the rhythm on the left and right hand may differ. Diagnosis in patients with suspected heart disease begins with checking the state of health at rest, their tolerance to physical activity. The reasons are found out with the help of the medical history, complaints of the patient. Apply the method of palpation and examination for the detection of cyanosis, pulsation of peripheral veins, shortness of breath, edema. The presence of heart hypertrophy is determined, heart murmurs and tones are heard.
Check the lungs, determine the size of the liver. Using an ECG, the heart rate, the type of arrhythmia, blockade and signs of ischemia are established. Phonocardiography is used to register murmurs and heart sounds and to determine heart valve defects. Also, the accuracy of the diagnosis is achieved using a chest x-ray, echocardiography, MSCT or MRI of the heart. Laboratory tests - rheumatoid tests, determination of sugar levels and the presence of cholesterol. Clinical blood and urine tests are required.
Treatment of heart defects
With heart defects, conservative treatment is to prevent complications. Also, all efforts of therapeutic therapy are aimed at preventing relapse of the primary disease, for example, rheumatism, infective endocarditis. Correction of rhythm disturbances and heart failure under the supervision of a cardiac surgeon is mandatory.
Based on the shape of the heart defect, treatment is prescribed.
Patients are advised to engage in those types of work activities that are not associated with physical overload. Quitting smoking and alcohol, performing physiotherapy exercises, spa treatment at cardiological resorts are some of the many ways to treat the defects of the main human organ.
Prevention of heart disease
As for congenital malformations, there are no recommendations here, since it is quite difficult to influence intrauterine development. Prevention of acquired defects is the prevention of rheumatism, syphilis, septic conditions. To prevent disease, exposure to infectious sources must be avoided.
It is useful to carry out hardening, physical preparation of the body will not be superfluous. With the formed pathology of the heart, in order to prevent heart failure, the optimal regimen must be observed. Walking, eating a balanced diet, and reducing the amount of salt when cooking have a positive effect on the heart.
Article author: Mochalov Pavel Alexandrovich | d. m. n. therapist
Education: Moscow Medical Institute. IM Sechenov, specialty - "General Medicine" in 1991, in 1993 "Occupational Diseases", in 1996 "Therapy".
