In atrial fibrillation, a problem with the heart's electrical system the atria to quiver, or fibrillate. The quivering upsets the normal rhythm between the atria and the lower parts (ventricles) of the heart. The lower parts may beat fast and without a regular rhythm. Atrial fibrillation is dangerous because it greatly increases the risk of stroke. If the heart doesn't beat strongly, blood can collect, or pool, in the atria.
If a blood clot in a narrowed artery blocks the flow of blood to the part of the heart muscle, a heart attack occurs. The section of heart muscle that does not receive the blood begins to die. This condition is called myocardial infarction, or M.I. As a result of M.I., heart action can be seriously impaired. A heart attack may be a sudden episode.
The heart is a muscle that pumps blood throughout the body. The blood carries oxygen and nutrients that the body needs to work properly. The vessels that supply this blood to the heart are called coronary arteries. If these arteries become narrowed or blocked, the heart is not able to pump enough blood to meet the body’s demand for oxygen and nutrients. This impairment of blood flow is called coronary artery disease (CAD).
Gerontology Disease Process Paper 09/10/2012 CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE Etiology Congestive heart failure (CHF) is the hearts inability to pump sufficient oxygen rich blood to the body’s tissues. CHF can be acute or chronic, left sided, right sided or both. There are several causes, diseases such as MI, hypertension, CAD or kidney failure valve disorders, inflammatory conditions, water intoxication and side effects from medications such as corticosteroids. CHF is more common among the elderly community, also is the leading cause of hospitalization and re-hospitalization among the elderly. Over three million individuals have been diagnosed with CHF.
Congestive Heart Failure • Definition • Prevention • Prevention of Readmission • Essential Patient Education • Opinion Definition Congestive Heart Failure, also known as CHF, is a medical condition in which the body’s heart is incapable of pumping and supplying enough blood to the rest of the body. When this condition occurs, adequate blood flow to the body’s vital organs such as the brain, lungs, liver, and kidneys is diminished. Congestive Heart Failure may be due to the right, left, or both ventricles, and is considered a long-term condition. Several causes of CHF include heart valve disease, primary heart muscle weakness, hypertension, and Coronary Artery Disease. CHF is a chronic, long-term condition although at times it can develop quite suddenly.
Blood clots inside a vein when a person becomes immobilized and muscles are not contracting to push blood back to the heart. Because the blood is not moving fast enough, clots begin to form on the wall of the vein, which may grow to the point of completely blocking the blood from returning to the heart. Some other common names to DVT are: blood clot in the leg, Thrombophlebitis, Venous thrombosis, and Venous thromboembolism; this term is used for deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. Only half of the people that have deep vein thrombosis have the actual symptoms to indicate this disease. Common signs include swelling in the leg or along a vein in the leg, increased warmth in the swollen area, pain or tenderness in the leg when standing or walking, or red/discolored skin on the leg.
Atherosclerosis is a type of disease in the blood vessels, mainly in the arteries. Smoking, not exercising, and being overweight are lifestyles that people chose to live and in which can cause atherosclerosis. Damage to the human body like smoking, is when the atherosclerosis disease starts. (Words of Wisdom Biology, 2012) * Why would atherosclerosis result in a heart attack? Provide a brief explanation based on how the heart functions.
Rapid and irregular heart rates may be perceived as palpitations, exercise intolerance, and occasionally produce angina (if the rate is faster and puts the heart under strain) and congestive symptoms of shortness of breath or edema. Sometimes the arrhythmia will be identified only with the onset of a stroke or a transient ischemic attack (TIA). It is not uncommon for a patient to first become aware of AF from a routine physical examination or ECG, as it may be asymptomatic in many cases. [1] As most cases of atrial fibrillation are secondary to other medical problems, the presence of chest pain or angina, symptoms of hyperthyroidism (an overactive thyroid gland) such as weight loss and diarrhea, and symptoms suggestive of lung disease would indicate an underlying cause. A history of stroke or TIA, as well as hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes, heart failure and rheumatic fever, may indicate whether someone with AF is at a higher risk of
Heart Bypass Surgery If you have blockage in one or more of your coronary arteries, your doctor may want to perform a heart bypass surgery. Coronary arteries are arteries that carry oxygen and nutrients in your blood. When your arteries become blocked your heart is not getting the blood supply that it needs. This is called ischemic heart disease and can often cause chest pain also known as Angina. Sometimes, heart bypass surgery is not the first treatment for ischemic heart disease.
Some think that if you are diabetic, that you are born with it. That may be true if you have type I diabetes but if you have type II, which is not the case. Most of, or all of the people who obtain type II diabetes can get it from just not being healthy or eating fatty or sugary foods more than usual people do. Overall, it is just from living an unhealthy lifestyle, which most of the people do nowadays. More and more people are becoming diabetic by the day from just making poor food choices in their daily life.