Heart disease can be caused by many different things and comes in many different forms. When the heart valve becomes diseased, one of two things happens: it doesn’t close tightly enough (called incompetence) to keep blood from backing up into the chamber from which it flowed; or, it doesn’t open widely enough (called stenosis) to allow adequate amounts of blood to flow into the chamber.

Heart disease is very common. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. The tendency to develop heart disease can be genetic. However, certain lifestyle factors such as diet, smoking, and stress make a big difference in whether or not a person will develop heart disease.

Many of the symptoms of heart attack can be brought on by digestive disturbances or other less serious conditions. But only sophisticated medical tests can determine for sure if you're having a heart attack. Heart attacks may vary from person to person, and from heart attack to heart attack. Women, for example, may experience "atypical' symptoms such as pain between the shoulder blades rather than crushing chest pain. This may result in them delaying seeking treatment. That is a great mistake.

Heart disease symptoms can be hard to recognize. You may not have any symptoms, or you may experience chest pain and shortness of breath, especially with physical exertion. Heart disease symptoms can be different in women. It's important to know when it might be an emergency.

Signs and symptoms of heart disease occur when plaque buildup in the coronary arteries causes a reduction in blood flow to the heart. You can have heart disease for many years without experiencing symptoms. Often, the first symptom comes in the form of a heart attack. Other common heart disease symptoms include chest pain or discomfort, shortness of breath, faster heartbeats, and dizziness.

Symptoms of heart disease in the case of arrhythmias usually occur when one realizes that his or her heart is occasionally missing a beat. Often these are harmless palpitations which are caused by an excessive consumption of stimulants such as caffeine. However, one should go to a doctor to rule out symptoms of heart disease. Arrhythmias are the result of heart valve problems, which might be indicative of damage to the valve itself. They are often cured by a “shock” which may regulate heart beats, but there is a risk in this treatment, since a clot could become dislodged and cause a heart attack or stroke.

Anybody can have heart disease. It is how we take care of our heart that actually lessens the chance we have coronary heart diseases like atherosclerosis (blockage of blood in the artery), ischaemic heart disease (reduction of blood supply to the heart), cardiovascular disease (often involving the heart and the blood vessels), and pulmonary heart disease (failure of the right side of the heart to function.)


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