Health 101: What is heart disease?

July 1, 5:38 PMHealth 101 ExaminerEthan Demby

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The heart is the body's life source.  If you have heart problems then that can affect every other organ in your body.  Heart diseases come in every shape and size, literally; having an enlarged heart can be a life-threatening complication.  Here are some of the most common heart diseases:

• Valvular heart disease - There are two types of valvular heart disease: stenosis and regurgitation.  Stenosis is when the valves in your heart are constricted, making the blood stream too narrow and causing less blood to filter through your heart (making your heart work much harder than it has to).  Regurgitation is the irregular and improper leakage of blood into the heart when the valves should be closed. 
• Heart muscle difficulties - There are two different complications of heart muscle problems: dilated cardiomyopathy and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.  Dilated cardiomyopathy affects the ventricles (primarily the left), causing it to become inflamed or dilated.  When your ventricle is dilated, there is less blood being pumped through it, thus less blood is reaching the rest of your organs and tissues.  Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is when the ventricles are thick and stiff, causing severe loss of breath especially when exercising. 
• Coronary artery disease - When plaque builds in your pulmonary arteries, your heart has a harder time trying to pump the blood in and out of the heart.  The most common coronary artery disease is atherosclerosis which is the confluence of major plaques in your blood stream; this causes the heart to pump harder to get the blood through it and out of it.
• Cardiac Arrhythmias - Incorrect heart rhythms, or cardiac arrhythmias, are separated into two different categories: those which make the heart pump too fast, and those that make the heart pump too slowly.  Complications that make the heart beat too slowly are called bradycardia and are usually caused from a problem with the sinus node.  The sinus node is the heart's pacemaker which sends electrical impulses to make sure the heart is beating properly.  Other complications that make the heart beat too fast are called tachycardia which can cause heart flutters and palpitations. 
  

For more information on heart disease, see what WebMD has to offer.