Cardiovascular disease

• Cardiovascular disease


  A general term that refers to diseases of the cardiovascular system, which is the heart and blood vessels
• Coronary heart disease


  When the coronary arteries, which supply blood to the heart muscle, start to get blocked by the buildup of layers of fatty material
• Coronary arteries getting blocked

  Causes the lumen of the arteries to become narrower so that less blood can flow through, which means that less oxygen reaches the heart muscle
• Less oxygen reaching the heart muscle


  Can put strain on the heart and potentially cause a heart attack
• Treatments for coronary heart disease

  • Stents
  • Statins
• Stent


  An expandable tube that can be placed inside the arteries to hold them open and ensure that the blood can keep flowing
• Benefits of stents


  • The surgery is relatively quick
  • They are effective for a long time
• Downsides of stents


  • The surgery has risks like inducing a heart attack or leading to an infection
  • There is a small risk of the patient later developing a blood clot near the stent
• Statins


  Medications that alter the balance of cholesterol in the bloodstream by decreasing the amount of bad cholesterol (LDL) and increasing the good cholesterol (HDL)
• Decreasing bad cholesterol and increasing good cholesterol

  Lowers the overall risk of not only coronary heart disease but also many other diseases like strokes and heart attacks
• Downsides of statins


  • They have to be taken regularly for years
  • They can cause side effects such as headaches and kidney failure
• Faulty heart valves


  When the heart valves get damaged or weakened, either naturally over time or due to other things like heart attacks and infections
• Problems with faulty heart valves

  • Not enough blood can pass through because the valve has become stiff and won't open fully
  • The valve doesn't close properly anymore and blood can leak backwards
• Treatments for faulty heart valves

  Replacing them with new biological valves from another human or a pig, or with man-made mechanical valves
• Downsides of heart valve replacement

  • Requires surgery
  • Ongoing risk of blood clots
• Heart failure


  When the heart isn't able to pump blood around the body properly anymore
• Treatments for heart failure

  • Medications can help
  • The only proper treatment is a new heart
• Artificial hearts


  Man-made hearts used to temporarily replace a failing heart until a real biological heart can be found
• Downsides of artificial hearts

  • They aren't that good, so they're generally only a temporary fix
  • The immune system doesn't try to destroy them like it would a foreign biological heart
• Heart transplant


  Replacing a failing heart with a donor heart from another human
• Downsides of heart transplants

  • Finding a donor heart can take a long time
  • The body's immune system may reject the new heart as foreign
• Sometimes people require a heart and lung transplant if both organs are diseased, but this is very complicated surgery