Heart care - Prologue and Rationale

The heart is the most vital organ in the body. It is a muscle about the size of a clenched fist. It starts working even before birth inside the womb. It pumps blood and supplies it to all parts of the body. There has been a increase in the incidence of heart diseases in recent times. Coronary heart disease is generally caused due to the blockage in the blood vessels of the heart by clots that interfere with the flow of blood. As a result the muscles of heart get poor oxygen. If the blockage is complete in any small coronary vessel that part of the muscle supplied by the vessel dies. This leads to heart attack. If the blockage is minor it may cause temporary chest pains and the efficiency of the heart muscles in contracting and relaxing decreases. The heart diseases rank third in India after tuberculosis and infections in causing death. It affects both the sexes but is more common in men as compare to women.

Symptoms

The various symptoms of heart disease are:

• Shortness of breath
• Chest pain
• Palpitation
• Emotional instability
• Cold hands and feet
• Fatigue
• Frequent perspiration
• Prolonged discomfort
• Sudden acute indigestion
• Loss of consciousness
• Nausea and vomiting
• Cold sweaty skin

Causes

The various factors responsible for heart disease are:

• Wrong dietary habits
• Faulty style of living
• Stress
• Smoking
• Lack of exercise
• Metabolic disorders
• High blood pressure
• Hardening of the arteries
• High blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides
• High levels of blood uric acid

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