An Overview Of Cardiovascular Diseases

Cardiovascular diseases include conditions that affect the heart and its anatomy; such as the coronary arteries, valves, conducting system and muscles and other blood vessels such as the aorta, vena cava and peripheral arteries and veins.

Affected anatomy and symptoms 

Different symptoms are experienced when different parts of the cardiovascular anatomy are affected. These anatomical areas will be discussed together with the associated symptoms that are experienced by the patient.

Atherosclerotic disease - diseased heart vessels that restrict blood flow to the end organ such as the heart and brain therefore causing problems such as a heart attack or stroke, respectively.

• Men usually experience symptoms such as chest pain, also called angina.
• Women tend to experience issues such as shortness of breath, fatigue and nausea.
• Other symptoms include numbness or a cold feeling in the limbs and pain in the neck, throat, jaw area, back or upper abdomen.
• If the brain is affected then symptoms can include difficulty with speech and one-sided facial and/or body paralysis.

Abnormal heartbeats - irregular arrhythmias caused by conduction issues of the heart.

• Chest pain or discomfort.
• Shortness of breath.
• Fluttering in the chest.
• Bradycardia (slow heartbeat).
• Tachycardia (fast heartbeat).
• Dizziness.
• Lightheadedness.
• Fainting (syncope) or near fainting.

Heart defects - include issues such as tetralogy of Fallot and septal defects between the heart chambers.

Serious heart defects can result in the following evident symptoms after the baby is born:

• Pale gray or blue skin colour (cyanosis).
• In an infant, shortness of breath during feedings. This results in poor weight gain.
• Peri-orbital, abdominal and lower limb swelling.

Less serious heart defects are usually diagnosed later in childhood or during adulthood. Non life-threatening signs and symptoms include:

• Experiencing shortness of breath easily during physical activities or exercise.
• Getting easily tired and fatigued during exercise or physical activities.
• Swelling experienced in the feet, ankles or hands.

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Cardiomyopathy - stiffening or thickening of the heart muscle causing difficulty in the heart to effectively pump blood throughout the body.

• Fatigue.
• Lightheadedness, dizziness or fainting.
• Breathlessness at rest or after physical exertion.
• Rapid or fluttering irregular heartbeats.
• Swelling of the peripheral limbs.

Heart infections - the areas that are affected here are the pericardial tissue that covers the heart (pericarditis), the muscular middle area of the heart called the myocardium (myocarditis) and the inner layer of the heart that separates the valves and the chambers called the endocardium (endocarditis).

• Fever.
• Dry or persistent cough.
• Fatigue or generalized weakness.
• Unusual skin rashes.
• Shortness of breath.
• Changes in heart rhythm.
• Swelling of the abdomen or lower limbs.

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Valvular heart diseases - the heart contains four valves (mitral, aortic, pulmonary and tricuspid) and these structures can become diseased which can result in them becoming hardened and narrowed (stenotic) or flaccid and dysfunctional (incompetent).

• Chest pain.
• Shortness of breath.
• Fatigue.
• Fainting/syncope.
• Swollen lower limbs.
• Irregular heartbeat.