Diseases of the Heart
Anatomy
The Circulatory System
Arrhythmia
•Abnormal heart
rhythm
•Irregular heartbeats
and heart rates
Bradyarrhythmia
• Bradycardia – heart rates that are slow
(less than 60bpm)
• Caused by decreased body temperature
or certain drugs
• May occur during sleep or some athletes
have unusually slow heartbeats
• Treatment – medicines, pacemaker,
surgery
Tachyarrhythmia
• Tachycardia – rapid heart rate (faster than
100 bpm)
• Caused by an increase in body
temperature, drugs or hormones, heart
disease, excitement, exercise, anemia, or
shock
• Treated by medicine, pacemaker, surgery
Fibrillation
• Small areas of the myocardium contract in an
uncoordinated, chaotic fashion (shuddering)
• The myocardium fails to contract as a whole,
and blood is no longer pumped
• Occurs in both the atria and ventricles
(deadly)
• Caused by an obstructed coronary artery,
toxic drug exposure, electric shock, or
traumatic injury to the heart or chest wall
• Treated by medicine, electrical procedures
Hypertension
• High blood pressure – persistently elevated
arterial pressure
• “Silent Killer”
• Can lead to a heart attack, stroke,
atherosclerosis
• Caused by poor diet, high sodium intake,
stress, obesity, lack of physical activity,
genetics, older age, smoking, alcohol
• Treatment includes exercise, controlling weight,
reducing stress, limiting sodium, medicine
Hypertension
• Prehypertension – blood pressure is
consistently just above normal (120-139
& 80-89)
• Hypertension – consistently 140/90
Atherosclerosis
• Usual cause of heart attacks, strokes, and
aneurysms
• High blood pressure, a fatty diet, smoking,
obesity, genetic factors, and lack of exercise
damage the endothelium (lines the arteries) &
cholesterol plaque forms
• The arteries harden and narrow and block
blood flow
• Treated by lifestyle changes, medicines, or
surgeries
Heart Attack/Myocardial Infarction
• Part of the coronary circulation
becomes blocked, and cardiac muscle
cells die from lack of oxygen
• Coronary heart disease causes the
arteries to become narrow and blood
cannot flow as well
• Fatty matter, calcium, proteins, and
inflammatory cells build up within the
arteries to form plaque
Heart attack continued
• When the plaque that forms becomes
hard, the outer shell cracks, and blood
clots form around the plaque
• If a blood clot blocks the artery, the heart
muscle becomes “starved” for oxygen
• Within a short time, death of heart
muscle cells occurs, causing permanent
damage
Risk Factors of a Heart Attack
1. Smoking
2. High blood pressure
3. High blood cholesterol levels
4. Diabetes
5. Obesity
6. Sedentary lifestyle
7. Genetics
Treatments – immediate medical attention,
drugs, surgeries
Pulmonary Edema
• The lungs fill with fluid due to a failing left
ventricle or damaged mitral (bicuspid) valve
• Causes blood to back up into the pulmonary
circuit and pressure to increase in the
capillaries in the lungs, flooding the spaces
with fluid
• The fluid interrupts normal oxygen movement
in the lungs
• Treatments include aspiration, medicine,
surgery
Pulmonary Edema
• An abnormal buildup of fluid in the air
sacs of the lungs, which leads to
shortness of breath
• In most cases heart problems cause
pulmonary edema but fluid can
accumulate for other reasons
• As pressure in the blood vessels increase,
fluid is pushed into the air spaces (alveoli)
in the lungs
• This fluid interrupts normal oxygen
movement in the lungs