Heart disease

Introduction: Heart disease

Any of a number of conditions that can affect the heart. Some examples include coronary heart disease, heart attack, cardiovascular disease, pulmonary heart disease and high blood pressure. Heart disease is a big problem in today's society because of lifestyle issues such as poor diet, lack of exercise and smoking.

Symptoms of Heart disease

• Angina - and its symptoms:
  • Chest discomfort
  • Chest pain
  • Brief pain episodes - often 2-5 minutes
  • Pain worsens on exercise

See full list of 13 symptoms of Heart disease

Medical Textbooks Online about Heart disease

Book excerpts: Copyright © 2007 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Diagnostic Tests for Heart disease

• Physical exam
• Stethoscope
• Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG)
• Stress test - also called treadmill test or exercise ECG
• Echocardiography

See full list of 7 diagnostic tests for Heart disease

Wrongly Diagnosed with Heart disease?

• Misdiagnosis of Heart disease
• Failure to diagnose Heart disease
• Underlying causes of Heart disease (possibly wrongly diagnosed)
• Failure to diagnose Heart disease

Misdiagnosis and Heart disease

Rare undiagnosed iron disorder causes various severe conditions: The rare "iron overload" disorder, hemochromatosis, can cause a variety of symptoms and result in various severe conditions that mimic several of the big name medical conditions. However, since it is quite rare (about 1 in 200 to 1 in 300), it may go undiagnosed, and indeed doctors may not even test for it. It can damage the pancreas, causing pancreatitis, leading to diabetes-like symptoms. It can damage the liver, leading to liver symptoms such as jaundice. Hemochromoatis can also damage the joints, giving the appearance of arthritis. The heart is another organ that excess iron can damage. Fortunately, this condition has a relatively simple treatment, and these complications can often be reversed by treatment of the iron overload causing them. See introduction to hemochromatosis....more »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Heart disease

Causes of Heart disease

Read more about causes of Heart disease.

More information about causes of Heart disease:

• Medications, drugs, or substances causing Heart disease (2 listings)
• Drug interactions causing Heart disease (78 listings)
• Heart disease as a complication caused by other conditions
• Heart disease as a symptom
• Medical news summaries relating to Causes of Heart disease

Treatments for Heart disease

• Aspirin - low-dose aspirin may be used to avoid heart attacks. However, because of side effects and risks it is not usually recommended for healthy individuals. Rather, mainly for those with existing heart problems or previous conditions.
• Digitalis - makes the heart pump harder, also helps some heart rhythm problems.
• ACE inhibitors
• Beta-blocker
• Nitrate (including nitroglycerine)

See full list of 10 treatments for Heart disease

Videos for Heart disease

Patient Surveys for Heart disease

• Patient Profile Survey
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• Survey about the symptoms of your Heart disease
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Prognosis for Heart disease

More about prognosis of Heart disease

Reseach about Heart disease

Visit our research pages for current research about Heart disease treatments.

Prevention of Heart disease

Prevention information for Heart disease has been compiled from various data sources and may be inaccurate or incomplete. None of these methods guarantee prevention of Heart disease.

• Control weight
• Healthy diet
• Low-fat diet
• Quit smoking
• Physical activity

Read more about prevention of Heart disease

Statistics for Heart disease

• Medical statistics for Heart disease
• Prevalence and incidence statistics for Heart disease
• Death and Mortality statistics for Heart disease
• Society statistics for Heart disease

Types of Heart disease

• Coronary heart disease (CHD) - most common type of heart disease caused by artery narrowing and reduced blood suppy to the heart.
• Heart attack
• High blood pressure
• Ischemic heart disease
• Heart rhythm disorders

See full list of 10 Types of Heart disease

Stories from Users Related to Heart disease

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User Interactive Forums

Read about other experiences, ask a question about Heart disease, or answer someone else's question, on our message boards:

• I can not get a diagnosis. Please help.
• Tell us your medical story.
• Share your misdiagnosis story.
• What is the best treatment for this?
• See all the forums.

Article Excerpts about Heart disease

Wiki article about Heart disease

See full article about Heart disease

Definitions of Heart disease:

A disease of the heart - (Source - WordNet 2.1)