Cardiovascular & Circulatory

The cardiovascular system (also known as the circulatory system) is composed of the heart, blood, and blood vessels. The system is known as a closed system because the blood never leaves the system of blood vessels consisting of arteries, capillaries and veins. Arteries deliver oxygenated blood to the tissues and organs whereas veins bring deoxygenated blood back to the heart and lungs. Blood flows from arteries and veins through capillaries, which are the thinnest and most numerous blood vessels. The cardiovascular system is one of the most important systems in the body as none of our cells and tissues can function without adequate oxygen and thus blood supply. If there are any problems with the heart, the rest of the body is greatly affected. Over 50 million Americans have cardiovascular problems, with most Western countries also facing high and increasing rates. In the United States and European countries, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death, usually because it is detected too late and adequate therapeutic measures can no longer be taken. Health can be improved through healthy eating, exercise, and not smoking.

Acute Coronary Syndromes

The most common indicator of heart attack, the chest pain results from a spectrum of conditions involving chest discomfort or other symptoms caused by lack of oxygen to the heart muscle. The unification of these manifestations of coronary artery disease under a single term reflects the understanding that these are caused by a similar sequence of events characterized by erosion, fissuring or rupture of a pre-existing plaque that leads to clotting within the coronary arteries and impaired blood supply to the heart muscle.

Angina

Angina, the most common symptom of coronary artery disease, is chest pain due to an inadequate supply of oxygen to the heart muscle. The chest pain of angina is typically severe and crushing. There is a feeling just behind the breastbone of pressure and suffocation. According to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, nearly 7 million people in the United States suffer from angina. About 400,000 patients go to their doctors with new cases of angina every year.

Arrhythmiasis

An arrhythmia (ah-RITH-me-ah) is a problem with the speed or rhythm of the heartbeat. During an arrhythmia, the heart can beat too fast, too slow, or with an irregular rhythm. A heartbeat that is too fast is called tachycardia. A heartbeat that is too slow is called bradycardia. Most arrhythmias are harmless, but some can be serious or even life threatening. When the heart rate is too slow, too fast, or irregular, the heart may not be able to pump enough blood to the body. Lack of blood flow can damage the brain, heart, and other organs.

Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis refers to the process of progressive thickening and hardening of the walls of medium-sized and large arteries as a result of fat deposits on their inner lining and is ultimately responsible for much coronary artery disease and many strokes. Atherosclerosis can affect any artery in the body, including arteries in the heart, brain, arms, legs, and pelvis. As a result, different diseases may develop based on which arteries are affected.

Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an irregular heart rhythm, or arrhythmia, that starts in the upper parts of the heart. Normally, the heart beats in a strong, steady rhythm. AF occurs when rapid, disorganized electrical signals in the heart’s two upper chambers, called the atria, cause them to contract very fast and irregularly (this is called fibrillation). As a result, blood pools in the atria and isn’t pumped completely into the heart’s two lower chambers, called the ventricles. When this happens, the heart’s upper and lower chambers don’t work together as they should.Atrial fibrillation can also lead to heart failure or heart attack.

Blood Clot

Blood that has been converted from a liquid to a solid state inside the circulatory system poses a potential danger to the person. Stationary, a thrombus, or more simply a blood clot, is inactive. But if it moves from that location through the bloodstream it is referred to as an embolus and can potentially decrease or cut off the flow of blood to tissue, resulting in death, stroke or heart attack.

Cardiac Surgeries

One of many forms of bypass surgery that can create new routes around narrowed and blocked coronary arteries, cardiac surgeries permit increased blood flow to deliver oxygen and nutrients to the heart muscle. These surgeries are an option for selected groups of patients with significant narrowings and blockages of the heart arteries. The bypass graft for a Cardiopulmonary Bypass Graft (CABG) can be a vein from the leg or an inner chest-wall artery. CABG surgery is one of the most commonly performed major operations. Coronary artery disease develops because of hardening of the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle.

Cardiovascular Diseases

Cardiovascular diseases are any such ailments that affect the heart or blood vessels. Cardiovascular diseases include arteriosclerosis, coronary artery disease, heart valve disease, arrhythmia, heart failure, hypertension, orthostatic hypotension, shock, endocarditis, diseases of the aorta and its branches, disorders of the peripheral vascular system and congenital heart disease.

Edema

Edema is the presence of abnormally large amounts of fluid in the intercellular tissue spaces of the body, usually applied to demonstrate accumulation of excessive fluid in the subcutaneous tissue. Edema has five pathophysiologic causes. It can be due to increased hydrostatic pressure, reduced oncotic pressure, lymphatic obstruction, sodium retention, or inflammation.

Hypercholesterolemia (High Cholesterol)

Hypercholesterolemia, or high blood cholesterol, is characterized by the presence of high levels of cholesterol in the blood. It is not considered a disease, though it is a metabolic abnormality that can accompany many other diseases, most often cardiovascular disease. Over time, elevated levels of cholesterol in the blood can lead to atherosclerosis and a number of other cardiovascular diseases such as angina, heart attack, strokes and peripheral artery disease. In the U.S., approximately 101 million people, or 37 percent of the population, have high cholesterol.

Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)

Hypertension, or more commonly referred to as high blood pressure, is a "silent" condition. It can lead to coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke, kidney failure, and other health problems. According to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, about 1 in 3 adults in the United States has HBP

Hypotension (Low Blood Pressure)

Any blood pressure that is below the normal expected for an individual in a given environment could be diagnosed with hypotension, which is the opposite of hypertension (abnormally high blood pressure). Hypotension is a relative term because the blood pressure normally varies greatly with activity, age, medications and underlying medical conditions. Low blood pressure can result from conditions of the nervous system, conditions that do not begin in the nervous system and drugs.

Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack)

A heart attack, or myocardial infarction (MI), is permanent damage to the heart muscle and more than 1.1 million Americans have heart attacks each year. Generally this is caused by atherosclerosis, the build-up of plaque deposits in the arteries. Occasionally, these fatty deposits burst, causing blood clots to form. These clots block blood flow to the heart and the oxygen-deprived muscle quickly becomes damaged and heart attack ensues.

Neointimal Hyperplasia

Neointimal hyperplasia is a critical pathological process in several vascular occlusive diseases, including atherosclerosis, vein graft-induced arteriosclerosis and the restenotic response to angioplasty and stent placement.

Stroke

A stroke occurs when a blood vessel in the brain is blocked or bursts. Without blood and the oxygen it carries, part of the brain starts to die. The part of the body controlled by the damaged area of the brain can't work properly. Brain damage can begin within minutes, so it is important to know the symptoms of stroke and act fast. Typically, a stroke is caused when an artery to the brain is blocked by a clot which typically occurs in a blood vessel that has previously been narrowed due to atherosclerosis. When a blood clot or a piece of an atherosclerotic plaque (a cholesterol and calcium deposit on the wall of the artery) breaks loose, it can travel through the circulation and lodge in an artery of the brain, plugging it up and stopping the flow of blood. According to the National Institutes of Health, there are more than 780,000 strokes each year in the United States.

Varicose Veins

Varicose veins are swollen and twisted veins that are visible just under the surface of the skin. They appear most commonly in the legs, but also can develop in other parts of the body. Varicose veins usually don’t cause medical problems. On occasion, they require treatment for pain, skin problems, blood clots, or other complications. People may choose to have cosmetic treatment to improve the appearance of varicose veins.

Ventricular Tachycardia

The excessive rapidity in the action of the heart, the term is usually applied to a heart rate above 100 beats per minute and may be qualified as atrial junctional (nodal) or ventricular.