COMMON EFFECTS OF HEART DISEASE

What Is a Heart Attack?

• A heart attack occurs if the flow of oxygen-rich blood to a section of heart muscle suddenly becomes blocked. If blood flow isn't restored quickly, the section of heart muscle begins to die.
• Heart attacks are a leading killer of both men and women in the United States. The good news is that excellent treatments are available for heart attacks. These treatments can save lives and prevent disabilities.
• Heart attack treatment works best when it's given right after symptoms occur. If you think you or someone else is having a heart attack, call 9–1–1 right away.

Overview

• Heart attacks most often occur as a result of  Coronary Heart Disease (CHD), also called coronary artery disease. 
• CHD is a condition in which a waxy substance called plaque (plak) builds up inside the coronary arteries. These arteries supply oxygen-rich blood to your heart.

• When plaque builds up in the arteries, the condition is called atherosclerosis(ath-er-o-skler-O-sis). The buildup of plaque occurs over many years.
• Eventually, an area of plaque can rupture (break open) inside of an artery. This causes a blood clot to form on the plaque's surface. If the clot becomes large enough, it can mostly or completely block blood flow through a coronary artery.
• If the blockage isn't treated quickly, the portion of  heart muscle fed by the artery begins to die. Healthy heart tissue is replaced with scar tissue. This heart damage may not be obvious, or it may cause severe or long-lasting problems.

Common Effects Of Heart Disease

• The effects of heart disease are basically the result of what happens when a person suffers from any form of heart disease.
• Some of the effects of heart disease are also symptoms. If you experience any heart disease symptoms, you should immediately take it seriously and consult your doctor.
• Some people are more at risk of developing heart disease than others. If you are wondering whether or not you’re at risk, why not just assume you are at risk and start taking steps to prevent or combat heart disease.

12 Most Common Effects of Heart Disease

The following:

1. Blood pressure can rise and fall quite often. Neither high blood pressure nor low blood pressure is a good condition. You want your blood pressure to be normal always. Fluctuations are not good for your heart.

2. Can lead to a fatal heart attack. When an artery becomes so narrowed that the blood flow to the heart is completely blocked, a heart attack is what happens.

3. Can lead to a stroke. When an artery that's liked to the brain is so clogged up with fatty deposits that blood flow to the brain is severely impeded to the extent that blood cannot flow through, what results is a stroke.

4. Dizziness. A person can experience dizziness because the heart is no longer functioning properly and blood flow to and from the heart and brain is impaired. The person suffering from heart disease will experience light-headedness.

5. Shortness of breath. Irregular breathing is another common effect when managing heart disease. It can result from irregular palpitations. This is actually also a heart disease symptom.

6. Chest pain. Chest pain occurs when oxygen to the heart is limited or blocked due to artery blockages. Also known as angina, chest pain is also a one of the heart disease symptoms.

7. Fatigue. The person who suffers from a heart disease will usually be constantly tired, exhausted and feeling drained.

8. Stress, worry and depression. The constant feeling of stress, anxiety, worry or depression is also a possible of effect of heart disease.

9. Persistent coughing or wheezing. This can be one of the possible effects of heart disease that can result from water in the lungs through cardiac failure or heart failure.

10. Ineffective functioning of the liver and kidney. If the heart, which is the most important organ in the body, is not functioning properly or is under distress, there’s no telling how the other organs linked might function. They could get affected too.

11. Another effect of heart disease can manifest in swelling in the ankles and feet.

12. Can result in death. If blood supply is completely cut off from the heart due to artery blockage, the person in question could die from not being able to breathe.

To avoid the possible effects of heart disease, you simply should just take measures to prevent heart disease. Diet, exercise and lifestyle changes such as stopping to smoke will put you in a great position to prevent heart disease.

ATRIAL ARRHYTHMIAS

ATRIAL ARRHYTHMIAS - At a Glance

Description:

It is normal for your heart rate to change during the day, depending on your activity level. For example, you can expect your heart rate to increase when you're exercising, but not when you are sitting still.

Any kind of abnormal rhythm or heart rate is called an arrhythmia. Fast, abnormal heart rhythms, with rates over 100 bpm, are called tachyarrhythmias. Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is a general term for any fast heart rhythm coming from above the ventricles. 

Anyone can develop an arrhythmia, even a young person without a previous heart condition. However, arrhythmias are most common in people over 65 who have heart damage caused by a heart attack, cardiac surgery, or other conditions. Common SVTs include:

•         Atrial fibrillation
•          Atrial flutter
•          Atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia (AVNRT)
•          Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPW)

Atrial fibrillation:

• (AF or AFib) is the most common SVT, affecting more than 2 million Americans in the United States.
•  It is a main cause of stroke, especially among elderly people.
• During AF, the heartbeat produced by the atria is irregular and rapid—typically more than 300 bpm—where muscle fibers in the heart twitch or contract. 
• With such a fast heart rate, the heart does not pump efficiently.
•  This may cause blood to pool and can lead to the formation of clumps of blood called blood clots. 
• A stroke can occur if a blood clot travels from the heart and blocks a smaller artery in the brain (a cerebral artery). About 15% of strokes happen in people with atrial fibrillation.

Atrial Flutter:

• Atrial flutter is similar to atrial fibrillation, with heart rates up to 4 times faster than normal in the atria. It differs from atrial fibrillation (AF) in that the heartbeat is regular, not irregular. 
• With atrial flutter, the electrical signal becomes “trapped” in the right atrium. It repeatedly travels in a circular pattern inside the right atrium, only occasionally “escaping” through the AV node to the ventricles. 
• This causes your atria to beat faster than the ventricles of your heart, at rates between 150 and 450 beats each minute.
•  Most who experience atrial flutter are 60 years and older and have some heart disorder, such as heart valve problems or a thickening of the heart muscle. 
• Atrial flutter also carries the risk of developing blood clots, though not as great as with AF.

AV Nodal Re-entrant Tachycardia (AVNRT)

• AVNRT is the second most common SVT. 
• In a normal heart, there is a single electrical pathway, or “gate,” called an atrioventricular node (AV node). 
• The AV node controls thetiming and direction of the electrical signal as it travels from the upper chambers (atria) to the lower chambers (ventricles) of the heart. 
• With AVNRT, an extra electrical pathway forms which allows the electrical signal to travel backward through the “gate” (AV Node) at the same time, starting another heartbeat. 
• During AVNRT the electrical signals continuously go around the 2 pathways in a circular pattern called re-entry. 
• This can lead to a very fast heart rate of 160 to 220 beats per minute. 
• AVNRT is most common in people in their 20's and 30's but can occur at any age. It is more common in women than in men. 

Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome:

• Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome is a group of fast, irregular heart beats caused by extra muscle pathways between the atria and the ventricles.
• In WPW, the pathways cause the electrical signals to arrive at the ventricles too soon, and the signals are sent back to the atria in a loop or short circuit.
• The result is a very fast heart rate. People with this syndrome may feel dizzy, have chest palpitations, or have episodes of fainting.
•  People with WPW may be more likely to develop atrial fibrillation or a more dangerous rhythm called ventricular tachycardia. 
• These pathways are present at birth. People of all ages, including infants, can experience the symptoms related to Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome.
• Episodes of a fast heartbeat often first occur when people are in their teens or early 20s. 

Causes and Risk Factors:

What are causes and risk factors of atrial arrhythmias?

• As you grow older, the risk of atrial arrhythmias seems to increase, especially after age 60. 
• High blood pressure and coronary artery disease are associated with atrial arrhythmias, as are other heart and lung conditions such as chronic lung disease, disease of the heart valves, and heart failure. 

People without heart disease can develop an arrhythmia for unknown causes, but risk factors can include:

•   Emotional stress
•   Consumption of alcohol, caffeine, diet pills and tobacco
•   Some prescription medications, such as certain cold, cough, allergy medications and  antidepressants
• Some rhythms are present at birth, such as White-Parkinson-White syndrome, in which a group of fast, irregular heart beats is caused by extra muscle pathways between the atria and the ventricles.

Symptoms:

What are symptoms of atrial arrhythmias?

Conduction problems like arrhythmias can go unnoticed. Other times they can cause symptoms, like these:

·         Fainting

·         Dizziness, feeling light-headed

·         Heart fluttering (palpitations)

·         Missed or extra heart beats

·         Weakness

·         Shortness of breath

·         Chest pain

 Diagnosis:

How are atrial arrhythmias diagnosed?

• To diagnose SVT, your doctor will typically use an electrocardiogram (ECG) test. This is a painless test that uses electrode patches on your skin to show how electrical signals travel through your heart. 
• The ECG can be printed out on paper. Your doctor can tell what kind of rhythm you have by looking at the printed pattern of your heartbeat.

Atrial fibrillation ECG:

An atrial arrhythmia is often labeled by how it starts and stops.

• Paroxysmal – starts suddenly then stops on its own
• Persistent – starts and continues until stopped with treatment
•  Permanent or Chronic – a rhythm that prevents a return to a normal heart rate

Treatment:

How are atrial arrhythmias treated?

• Treatment for atrial arrhythmias depends greatly upon you and your symptoms. Generally, your doctor will focus on treatments that help control your heart rate and reduce the risk of blood clots.

Several factors are considered in determining the appropriate method of treatment:

•            Your age
•           Overall health
•          Your personal and family medical history
•          Medications you may be taking for other conditions
•          Underlying diseases or conditions that may contribute to the arrhythmia
•          The nature and severity of the arrhythmia and its symptom
•     Possible treatment options include one or a combination of treatments.

Lifestyle Changes:

These may help improve or reduce the occurrence of an arrhythmia. They may include eating a more heart-healthy diet, limiting or eliminating the amount of caffeine, exercising regularly, and stopping smoking.

Medication:

Blood thinners, such as aspirin or warfarin, are commonly prescribed, to prevent the blood from pooling and causing a blood clot to form.

Two additional types of medications are used to treat arrhythmias: antiarrhythmic medicine, which control the rhythm of the heart, and beta blockers, which control the rate at which the heart beats. They may be used alone or along with other treatments

Cardioversion:

Cardioversion uses electrical energy to change an arrhythmia back to a normal rhythm. By delivering a controlled electric shock through the chest to the heart, cardioverters "shock" the heart back into a normal heart rhythm. It is performed in a hospital while the patient is under heavy sedation. During emergencies, the shock may be delivered through an automatic external defibrillator, or AED.

Cardiac Ablation:

For many patients with atrial arrhythmias, medications cannot effectively control the arrhythmia or may cause serious side effects. For these individuals, a procedure called cardiac ablation may be considered. With cardiac ablation, a catheter is positioned inside the heart to target therapy at the tissue responsible for the arrhythmia.

Some patients may need a pacemaker after an ablation procedure

Different Types Of Tobacco

There are a number of types of tobacco which include but are not limited to:

• Aromatic Fire-cured, it is cured by smoke from open fires. In the United States, it is grown in northern middle Tennessee, central Kentucky and in Virginia. Fire-cured tobacco grown in Kentucky and Tennessee are used in some chewing tobaccos, moist snuff, some cigarettes, and as a condiment in pipe tobacco blends. Another fire-cured tobacco is Latakia and is produced from oriental varieties of N. tabacum. The leaves are cured and smoked over smoldering fires of local hardwoods and aromatic shrubs in Cyprus and Syria.

• Brightleaf tobacco, Brightleaf is commonly known as "Virginia tobacco", often regardless of which state they are planted. Prior to the American Civil War, most tobacco grown in the US was fire-cured dark-leaf. This type of tobacco was planted in fertile lowlands, used a robust variety of leaf, and was either fire cured or air cured. Most Canadian cigarettes are made from 100% pure Virginia tobacco.

• Burley tobacco, is an air-cured tobacco used primarily for cigarette production. In the U.S., burley tobacco plants are started from palletized seeds placed in polystyrene trays floated on a bed of fertilized water in March or April.

• Cavendish is more a process of curing and a method of cutting tobacco than a type of it. The processing and the cut are used to bring out the natural sweet taste in the tobacco. Cavendish can be produced out of any tobacco type but is usually one of, or a blend of Kentucky, Virginia, and Burley and is most commonly used for pipe tobacco and cigars.

• Criollo tobacco is a type of tobacco, primarily used in the making of cigars. It was, by most accounts, one of the original Cuban tobaccos that emerged around the time of Columbus.

• Dokham, is a tobacco of Iranian origin mixed with leaves, bark, and herbs for smoking in a midwakh.

• Oriental tobacco, is a sun-cured, highly aromatic, small-leafed variety (Nicotiana tabacum) that is grown in Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, and Macedonia. Oriental tobacco is frequently referred to as "Turkish tobacco", as these regions were all historically part of the Ottoman Empire. Many of the early brands of cigarettes were made mostly or entirely of Oriental tobacco; today, its main use is in blends of pipe and especially cigarette tobacco (a typical American cigarette is a blend of bright Virginia, burley and Oriental).

• Perique, A farmer called Pierre Chenet is credited with first turning this local tobacco into the Perique in 1824 through the technique of pressure-fermentation. Considered the truffle of pipe tobaccos, it is used as a component in many blended pipe tobaccos, but is too strong to be smoked pure. At one time, the freshly moist Perique was also chewed, but none is now sold for this purpose. It is typically blended with pure Virginia to lend spice, strength, and coolness to the blend.
• Shade tobacco, is cultivated in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Early Connecticut colonists acquired from the Native Americans the habit of smoking tobacco in pipes and began cultivating the plant commercially, even though the Puritans referred to it as the "evil weed". The industry has weathered some major catastrophes, including a devastating hailstorm in 1929, and an epidemic of brown spot fungus in 2000, but is now in danger of disappearing altogether, given the value of the land to real estate speculators.

• White Burley, In 1865, George Webb of Brown County, Ohio planted Red Burley seeds he had purchased, and found that a few of the seedlings had a whitish, sickly look. The air-cured leaf was found to be more mild than other types of tobacco.

• Wild Tobacco, is native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, and parts of South America. Its botanical name is Nicotiana rustica.

• Y1 is a strain of tobacco that was cross-bred by Brown & Williamson to obtain an unusually high nicotine content. It became controversial in the 1990s when the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) used it as evidence that tobacco companies were intentionally manipulating the nicotine content of cigarettes.

HEALTH TIPS FOR SMOKERS

HEALTH TIPS FOR SMOKERS

 Remaining Healthy inspite of Smoking

Smoking with all its injurious repercussions still has a huge number of followers. Compulsive smokers with their passionate spree are found smoking come rain or shine. But, in course of dicing with death, it makes for sense bearing in mind some of the healthy options.

Healthy diet and food recommendation for Smokers

In order to counteract the extremely injurious repercussions of nicotine intake, it is important that you realize the significance of a healthy dietary regimen.

Balanced nutrition in addition to nutritional supplements can help you rid the damages of this addictive habit.

Healthy diet recommended for smokers include leafy greens, loads of roughage, fresh & seasonal fruits and whole grain cereals.

Opt for a dietary regimen that does not tax your digestion.

With liver providing for natural detoxification, it is necessary that its health is ensured.

Bearing in mind the process of health and that of cleansing, it is important to reduce the intake of junks, processed food and those based on refined starch.

Food reducing the harmful effects of smoking

Vitamin B, E & C in addition to those enriched with antioxidants help tominimize the harmful effects of smoking.

The mentioned nutrients have established relations to countering the damages caused to lungs.

You can go for multivitamins, B complexes and necessary supplements.

But it is preferable opting for food sources enriched with the same.

Dietary plan with insistence on cabbage, sprouts, beat root, carrots, kale, spinach and collard should be opted for to reduce the harmful effects of smoking.

It is better to have the food cooked in minimum oil. Boiling, steaming and having it in forms of soups and juices will prove to be effective.

Six helpings of vegetables will serve to cleanse the system besides making up for the nutritional depletion.

While vitamins in forms of greens will prove to be healing; abstinence from sugar and refined starch will help you control blood sugar.

There isn’t any need to minimize the consumption of carbohydrates; but go for the unrefined or unpolished version of the same.

In addition to freaking on boiled vegetables and fresh fruits; go for unpolished rice and bread made of whole-wheat.

It is important that you minimize your caffeine intake as well.

Alternative option of green tea will prove to be pretty effective.

How to remain healthy in spite of smoking

Nutrition and supplements based on it will help you to stay in pink of health despite smoking.

In fact dietary regimen focusing on the minimized consumption of carbohydrate, refined starch and processed junks will guide you into a plan from where you may think in terms of giving up smoking.

With smoking enhancing the exposure to cancer, it is important that you opt for a healthy lifestyle with distributed thrust on diet, rest and exercise.

Insist on a plant based dietary plan.

Minimum processing of food and for that matter minimum cooking of food will guide you into health and betterment, other than being antithetic to cancer.

Go for a balanced blend of diet and exercise so that the physiology is ensured of a proper metabolism.

Supplements of green food can also be opted for, but do ensure yourself of physician’s guidance before embarking on the same.

TOBACCO SMOKE CONTAINS DANGEROUS CHEMICALS

                                         SMOKING DANGEROUS

Smoking with all its injurious repercussions still has a huge number of followers. Compulsive smokers with their passionate spree are found smoking come rain or shine. But, in course of dicing with death, it makes for sense bearing in mind some of the healthy options.

Tobacco smoke contains dangerous chemicals

The most damaging compounds in tobacco smoke include:

Tar – this is the collective term for all the various particles suspended in tobacco smoke. The particles contain chemicals including several cancer-causing substances. Tar is sticky and brown, and stains teeth, fingernails and lung tissue. Tar contains the carcinogen benzo(a)pyrene that is known to trigger tumour development (cancer).

Carbon monoxide – this odourless gas is fatal in large doses because it takes the place of oxygen in the blood. Each red blood cell contains a protein called haemoglobin – oxygen molecules are transported around the body by binding to, or hanging onto, this protein. However, carbon monoxide binds to haemoglobin better than oxygen. This means that less oxygen reaches the brain, heart, muscles and other organs.

Hydrogen cyanide – the lungs contain tiny hairs (cilia) that help to clean the lungs by moving foreign substances out. Hydrogen cyanide stops this lung clearance system from working properly, which means the poisonous chemicals in tobacco smoke can build up inside the lungs. Other chemicals in smoke that damage the lungs include hydrocarbons, nitrous oxides, organic acids, phenols and oxidising agents.

Free radicals – these highly reactive chemicals can damage the heart muscles and blood vessels. They react with cholesterol, leading to the build-up of fatty material on artery walls. Their actions lead to heart disease, stroke and blood vessel disease.

Metals – tobacco smoke contains dangerous metals including arsenic, cadmium and lead. Several of these metals are carcinogenic.

Radioactive compounds – tobacco smoke contains radioactive compounds, which are known to be carcinogenic.

Effects of smoking on the respiratory system

The effects of tobacco smoke on the respiratory system include:

• Irritation of the trachea (windpipe) and larynx (voice box)
• Reduced lung function and breathlessness due to swelling and narrowing of the lung airways and excess mucus in the lung passages
• Impairment of the lungs’ clearance system, leading to the build-up of poisonous substances, which results in lung irritation and damage
• Increased risk of lung infection and symptoms such as coughing and wheezing
• Permanent damage to the air sacs of the lungs.

Effects of smoking on the circulatory system

The effects of tobacco smoke on the circulatory system include:

• Raised blood pressure and heart rate
• Constriction (tightening) of blood vessels in the skin, resulting in a drop in skin temperature
• Less oxygen carried by the blood
• Stickier blood, which is more prone to clotting
• Damage to the lining of the arteries, which is thought to be a contributing factor to atherosclerosis (the build-up of fatty deposits on the artery walls)
• Reduced blood flow to extremities like fingers and toes
• Increased risk of stroke and heart attack due to blockages of the blood supply.

Effects of smoking on the immune system

The effects of tobacco smoke on the immune system include:

• The immune system doesn’t work as well
• The person is more prone to infections such as pneumonia and influenza
• Illnesses are more severe and it takes longer to get over them.
• Lower levels of protective antioxidants (such as Vitamin C), in the blood.

Effects of smoking on the musculoskeletal system

The effects of tobacco smoke on the musculoskeletal system include:

• Tightening of certain muscles
• Reduced bone density.

Other effects of smoking on the body

Other effects of tobacco smoke on the body include:

• Irritation and inflammation of the stomach and intestines
• Increased risk of painful ulcers along the digestive tract
• Reduced ability to smell and taste
• Premature wrinkling of the skin
• Higher risk of blindness
• Gum disease (periodontitis).

Effects of smoking on the male body

The specific effects of tobacco smoke on the male body include:

• Lower sperm count
• Higher percentage of deformed sperm
• Genetic damage to sperm
• Impotence, which may be due to the effects of smoking on blood flow and damage to the blood vessels of the penis.

Effects of smoking on the female body

The specific effects of tobacco smoke on the female body include:

• Reduced fertility
• Menstrual cycle irregularities or absence of menstruation
• Menopause reached one or two years earlier
• Increased risk of cancer of the cervix
• Greatly increased risk of stroke and heart attack if the smoker is aged over 35 years and taking the oral contraceptive pill.

Effects of smoking on the unborn baby

The effects of maternal smoking on an unborn baby include:

• Increased risk of miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth
• Low birth weight, which may have a lasting effect of the growth and development of children. Low birth weight is associated with an increased risk for heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, being overweight and diabetes in adulthood
• Increased risk of cleft palate and cleft lip
• Paternal smoking can also harm the fetus if the non-smoking mother is exposed to second-hand smoke.
• If the mother or father continues to smoke during their baby’s first year of life, the child has an increased risk of ear infections, respiratory illnesses such as pneumonia and bronchitis, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and meningococcal disease.

Diseases caused by long-term smoking

A lifetime smoker is at high risk of developing a range of potentially lethal diseases, including:

• Cancer of the lung, mouth, nose, voice box, tongue, nasal sinus, oesophagus, throat, pancreas, bone marrow (myeloid leukaemia), kidney, cervix, ovary, ureter, liver, bladder, bowel and stomach

• Lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema
• Coronary artery disease, heart disease, heart attack and stroke
• Ulcers of the digestive system
• Osteoporosis and hip fracture
• Poor blood circulation in feet and hands, which can lead to pain and, in severe cases, gangrene and amputation.

Once You Start, It's Hard to Stop

• Smoking is a hard habit to break because tobacco contains nicotine, which is highly addictive. 
• Like heroin or other addictive drugs, the body and mind quickly become so used to the nicotine in cigarettes that a person needs to have it just to feel normal.
• People start smoking for a variety of different reasons. 
• Some think it looks cool. 
• Others start because their family members or friends smoke. 
• Statistics show that about 9 out of 10 tobacco users start before they're 18 years old. Most adults who started smoking in their teens never expected to become addicted. That's why people say it's just so much easier to not start smoking at all.
• Nicotine is the addictive drug in tobacco smoke that causes smokers to continue to smoke. 
• Addicted smokers need enough nicotine over a day to ‘feel normal’ – to satisfy cravings or control their mood. 
• How much nicotine a smoker needs determines how much smoke they are likely to inhale, no matter what type of cigarette they smoke. 

Where to get help

• Your doctor
• Your pharmacist
• Quitline Tel. 13 QUIT (7848)

Things to remember

• Many of the 7,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke are chemically active and trigger profound and potentially fatal changes in the body.
• Smoking harms nearly every organ in the body