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Heart disease or cardiopathy is an umbrella term for a variety of different diseases affecting the heart. As of 2007, it is the leading cause of death in the United States, England, Canada and Wales, accounting for 25.4% of the total deaths in the United States.

The heart is the center of the cardiovascular system. Through the body’s blood vessels, the heart pumps blood to all of the body’s cells. The blood carries oxygen, which the cells need. Cardiovascular disease is a group of problems that occur when the heart and blood vessels aren’t working the way they should.

Here are some of the problems that go along with cardiovascular disease:

1.Stroke: when part of the brain doesn’t get enough blood due to a clot or a burst blood vessel.

2.Heart attack: when a blood clot or other blockage cuts blood flow to a part of the heart.

3.Angina: people with angina feel a pain in the chest that means the heart isn’t getting enough blood.

4.Atherosclerosis: a buildup of cholesterol and fat that makes the arteries narrower so less blood can flow through. Those buildups are called plaque.

5.Arteriosclerosis: also called hardening of the arteries, arteriosclerosis means the arteries become thickened and are no longer as flexible.

Heart disease is a general term that refers to a variety of acute and chronic medical conditions that affect one or more of the components of the heart. The heart is a muscular, fist-sized organ that is located in the left side of the chest cavity. It continuously pumps blood, beating as many as 100,000 times a day. The blood that the heart moves carries oxygen and nutrients throughout the body and transports carbon dioxide and other wastes to the lungs, kidneys, and liver for removal. The heart ensures its own oxygen supply through a set of coronary arteries and veins. The heart is also an endocrine organ that produces the hormones atrial natriuretic hormone (ANP) and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), which coordinate heart function with blood vessels and the kidneys.

Internally, the heart is essentially hollow. It is divided vertically into two halves by a septum, and each side of the heart has two internal chambers – an atrium on top and a ventricle on the bottom. Venous blood enters the right side of the heart through the right atrium and is pumped by the right ventricle to the lungs, where carbon dioxide is released and oxygen acquired. Oxygenated blood from the lungs is transported to the left atrium and is pumped by the left ventricle into arteries that carry it throughout the body. Four heart valves regulate the direction and flow of blood through the chambers of the heart. It is their opening and shutting that gives the heart its characteristic “lub-dub” beat. The heart muscle itself is called the myocardium. Lining the chambers of the heart and the valves is a membrane called the endocardium. Encasing the outside of the heart is the pericardium – a layered membrane that is fibrous on the outside and serous (fluid-secreting) on the inside. The pericardium forms a protective barrier around the heart and allows it to beat in a virtually friction free environment.

Diseases affecting the heart may be structural or functional. Anything that damages the heart or decreases the heart’s supply of oxygen, makes it less efficient, reduces its ability to fill and pump, will disrupt the coordinated relationship between the heart, kidneys, and blood vessels and will harm not only the heart but the rest of the body as well.

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