by Char Brar

Created on: April 05, 2009   Last Updated: April 12, 2009

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Even though medicine has come long way in finding effective ways to treat the heart disease or delay it's progression, still more than 500,000 Americans die from coronary artery disease each year. While medical therapy is still critical to treatment of heart disease and needs constant improvement, we now realize that prevention is the best way to conquer heart disease.

Heart is a muscle that pumps blood to every organ of the body. Just like house, the heart has various structures such as walls (myocardium), doors (valves), plumbing (arteries and veins), and electrical system. The term heart disease can denote several different types of problems depending upon which structure or system of the heart has been affected. These include:
1) Coronary artery disease (CAD) refers to the buildup of plaque (atherosclerosis) inside the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle. Atherosclerosis causes narrowing or blockage in the coronary arteries. The reduced blood flow to the heart leads to angina (chest discomfort) symptoms, while complete cut in blood supply due to blockage inside the artery will cause heart attack or myocardial infarction. The dead tissues in the heart muscle (after heart attack) can make it more prone to arrhythmias and heart failure.
2) Heart failure (HF) refers to decreased efficiency in pumping ability of the heart after a heart attack.
3) Hypertension or high blood pressure if untreated puts strain on the heart by increasing resistance in the blood vessels.
4) Valvular disease can be congenital (birth defect), viral, secondary to infection (such as Endocarditis), or calcium built up with aging. Long standing valvular disease can cause enlargement and weakening of the heart muscle due to flow impaired blood flow within the heart chambers.
5) Cardiomyopathy (Cardio = heart, Myo= muscle, pathy= disease) is the deterioration in the pumping function of the myocardium, can cause arrhythmia and/or "sudden cardiac death. There are multiple types of Cardiomyopathies, but the most common are: 1) Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), 2) Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM or HOCM), and 3) Restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM). DCM is the most common form of cardiomyopathy where the heart cavity is much enlarged and looks "baggy", and it's the pumping capability is decreased. It cannot pump as strongly to meet the body's needs. HCM or HOCM is a genetic disorder . In this kind of the heart walls are

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