Types Of Heart Diseases
What are the different types of heart diseases? We have all known or heard about someone suffering from a type of heart disease or we might even have one ourselves. If someone is born with a type of heart disease it is called a congenital heart disease but more often, heart diseases develop over a persons lifetime. There are more than 50 types of heart diseases. A heart disease can affect different parts of the heart and can be separated into categories such as; heart chambers, heart muscles, heart valves, electrical systems, heart lining and coronary arteries and veins.
Heart diseases that affect the heart muscle such as cardiomyopathy, dilated cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and rescrictive cardiomyopathy all have to do with the deterioration of the function of the myocardium which is the heart muscle. Any of these diseases have to potential to lead up to heart failure. A less serious heart muscle disease is Myocarditis which means the heart muscle is inflamed, this is usually caused by infections and responds well to treatment.
Common types of heart diseases that affect the valves of the heart included; mitral steinosis, mitral valve regurgitation, mitral valve prolapse, aortic stenosis, aortic regurgitaion, tricuspid stenosis and regurgitation. If any of the valves of the heart are regurgitating it means that the valves fail to close properly and drain blood when they aren’t supposed to. Stenosis of the heart valves refers to the opening of the valves being narrowed. These diseases are usually caused by advancing age.
Coronary artery disease is one of the most common types of heart diseases affecting the arteries and veins of the heart where the arteries get clogged or blocked and this diminishes the blood flow. Other diseases of the arteries and veins include; angina pectorsis, variant angina (coronary artery spasms), atherosclerosis which means the arteries harden instead of being more elastic. Any of these types of heart diseases can cause a heart attack because there is a major decrease in blood and oxygen flow between the heart and the rest of the body.
Types of heart diseases that affect the electrical system have to do with the abnormal rate of atrial and ventricular etopic node rhythms such as sinus trachycardia and sinus bradycardia. Another more common disease is atrial fibrillation is the same as an irregular heart beat which can be asymptomatic yet still carry the risk of a stroke. An atrial flutter is a periodic irregular heartbeat that can lead to sinus trachycardia/bradycardia and also atrial fibrillation.
Endocarditis and pericarditis are diseases that affect the lining of the heart. Endocarditis is the inflamed endocardium which is the inner most layer that lines the heart chambers. Pericarditis is the imflamation of the pericardium is a tough layer that covers the heart. The direct outer layer that surrounds the whole heart is called the myocardium which holds in the pericardium fluids.
When you are born with a heart disease it is called a congenital heart disease, these types of heart diseases include; ventricular septal defect (the wall dividing the ventricles), arterial septal defect (the wall dividing the left and right atria), pulmonary stenosis (blockage from right ventricle to pulmonary artery), tricuspid and pulmonary atresia (the valves are abnormally closed) and hypoplastic left heart syndrome is when the left ventricle is under developed or not developed at all.
Other heart diseases include: cardiac tumors, hypertensive heart disease, heart failure and the strangest to me is sudden cardiac death, also known as sudden death syndrome where the heart just ceases to pump.
