Medical Advices for Students

Archive for the ‘Cardiovascular’ Category

What changes in lifestyle can help if you have angina?

Talk to your doctor about changes you can do to improve the health of your heart and angina pectoris. You may benefit from:

- Lose weight

- Increase your physical activity

- Eats a healthy diet and not overeat

- Manage the stress in your life

- Quit smoking

- Drink less alcohol. Read the rest of this entry »

What should I do if I start having chest pains while I’m at rest unexpectedly?

If you have unexpected chest pain while at rest, seek medical help immediately. Call or have someone call 9-1-1. This kind of pain may indicate that they are forming clots in the arteries and they are about to cause a heart attack. They are available in the hospital drugs that can stop blood clots from forming and dissolve existing ones.

What is the treatment to be followed in the case of angina pectoris?

Changes in lifestyle and medication are the most common ways of controlling stable angina. Although exercise may cause angina pectoris, that does not mean you should stop exercising. In fact, you should follow an exercise program that has been approved by your doctor. Read the rest of this entry »

Are there other types of angina in addition to stable angina (common) and unstable?

There are two other types of angina pectoris. One, Prinzmetal angina or variant is very rare but causes discomfort almost all the time when the person is at rest. It is caused by spasms that narrow the coronary arteries and decrease blood flow to the heart. The other type is called microvascular angina. It happens to people who feel chest pain but have no obvious obstructions in the coronary arteries. The microvascular angina pain is caused by a malfunction of the blood vessels. This type of angina can be treated with the same drugs as common angina. Read the rest of this entry »

Does angina mean I’m having a heart attack?

Not necessarily. An episode of angina is a heart attack but it means you are more likely to have a heart attack. The pain of angina pectoris indicates that part of the heart muscle is not getting enough blood at the time. On the other hand, a heart attack occurs when blood flow is going to some part of the heart is suddenly and permanently suspended, usually due to a blood clot. This can cause serious heart damage.

Do all cases of angina the same?

No. There are two main types of angina: stable angina and common or unstable angina. Both types of angina pectoris indicate an increased risk of heart attack, unstable angina but is often a warning sign that can occur soon a heart attack. Read the rest of this entry »

What is angina and how I can know if I have?

Angina, or angina pectoris, refers to symptoms such as pain or chest discomfort caused by reduced blood flow to the heart. Angina is often the first sign of heart disease.

The heart is a muscle that gets blood from blood vessels called coronary arteries. If one or more of the coronary arteries have a blockage that reduces blood flow to the heart occasionally, you have angina.

The narrowing and blockage of arteries usually due to the gradual accumulation of fatty deposits (fat) called plaque within the arteries. This process is called atherosclerosis. Read the rest of this entry »

How does the doctor diagnose atherosclerotic disease?

First and foremost, the diagnosis is made based on medical history. When in doubt about the diagnosis, or it involves difficulties, the assessment of a specialist for further study will be helpful in treating this disease.

Other tests of noninvasive imaging, ie tests that do not involve risk to the patient or require the introduction of catheters by puncturing a vein or artery, such as Doppler echocardiography, or other type invasive (requiring an approach by puncture of blood vessels are not safe exploration, while providing highly relevant information, sometimes mandatory), such as angiography, or in a hospital.

First symptoms of cerebral arteriosclerosis (AVC), or due to involvement of the legs (claudication), the Surgeon General may also refer the patient to the specialist for further investigation by brain scan (CT scan obtained by CT or MRI ), and angiography for further evaluation of blood circulation in the extremities. Read the rest of this entry »

What are the symptoms of atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries?

No symptoms when the degree of atherosclerosis is mild. More severe cases of coronary atherosclerosis may be related to the onset of chest pain at exertion, which disappears after a few minutes of rest (angina pectoris). Should any of the arteries that supply blood to the heart (coronary arteries) is blocked (coronary thrombosis), death occurs in that region of the heart muscle receiving blood from the affected artery, causing a heart attack (myocardial infarction ).

If there are risk factors for cardiovascular disease, be alert to crushing, or excruciating pain in the chest, sometimes also experienced in the neck or left arm. The pain of this nature not to give the 20 minutes should be urgently evaluated by a physician or other health personnel. Read the rest of this entry »

What is a vascular disease?

Vascular disease or vascular disease is mainly caused by atherosclerosis, which is caused by a thickening of the lining of the arteries (called the intima).

Arteries are blood vessels that supply blood, oxygen and nutrients to the body, from the heart. Atherosclerosis is a disorder that causes a hardening and narrowing of the arteries so that blood supply is insufficient to meet the needs of the tissue.

The body parts most affected by this disease suffer the consequences of inadequate irrigation, ie a worsening of function, tissue injury, or death of it.

Symptoms change depending on where vascular disease occurs in the body. Bodies whose arteries suffer from vascular disease most often are: Read the rest of this entry »

American medical press cholesterol considered as the murderer number one cardiovascular health.

Increased blood cholesterol is common and occasionally has a familiar character. Make sure with the help of your doctor about what level of risk, particularly if there are relatives on the paternal or maternal coronary heart disease.

If you know that your cholesterol is high, find out what it means to such an increase and know that there are ways to reduce it, starting with lifestyle change. Your doctor will tell you if it is also necessary to continue treatment with drugs to reduce cholesterol levels. Read the rest of this entry »

What can the doctor do?

To prevent cardiovascular disease is crucial to identify people with changes in the profile of blood fats, and help to regulate this problem. According to U.S. figures, and although it has reduced cholesterol levels modestly since the early sixties, the latest estimates indicate that 50% of all U.S. adults are detected concentrations of cholesterol above 200 mg/dl and that 20% of adults these levels are at or above 240 mg/dl.

American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology have developed a scoring system to calculate the risk of coronary heart disease according to age, total cholesterol (and fractions thereof), blood pressure, if it is or nondiabetic and whether or not smoking. Read the rest of this entry »