Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a condition that occurs when the heart fails to initiate its ability to pump blood. There are two types of CHF, the left side heart failure and the right side heart failure. It is considered as one of the most common form of heart diseases which requires medical attention. However, there are some simple ways that are feasible to treat this condition. These include self-care or home management recommendations. When someone is diagnosed with congestive heart failure, they are usually in need of qualified cardiologist. People with CHF can do several things at home that enhance their comfort and minimize the risk of worsening the condition. As a matter of fact, the more they become active in performing their daily routines, the better they can overcome the severity of their condition. Modifying the lifestyle practices will mark a better influence. This will not only make them become better but it enhances their opportunity to liv...

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a condition that occurs when the heart fails to initiate its ability to pump blood. There are two types of CHF, the left side heart failure and the right side heart failure. It is considered as one of the most common form of heart diseases which requires medical attention. However, there are some simple ways that are feasible to treat this condition. These include self-care or home management recommendations. When someone is diagnosed with congestive heart failure, they are usually in need of qualified cardiologist. People with CHF can do several things at home that enhance their comfort and minimize the risk of worsening the condition. As a matter of fact, the more they become active in performing their daily routines, the better they can overcome the severity of their condition. Modifying the lifestyle practices will mark a better influence. This will not only make them become better but it enhances their opportunity to live a longer ...

Cardiology doctors see the effects of a poorly restrained heart everyday. While some heart problems can not be prevented, such as congenital defects of the heart, serious problems of the heart can often be prevented or improved greatly by a regular exercise program. New studies have shown that even moderate exercise done regularly can improve the function and health of the heart. Good cardiac exercise is not pumping iron at the gym. In order to reap benefits of the heart, you need to elevate your heart rate through cardiovascular exercise, such as fast walking, riding a bicycle or jumping rope, and maintain the elevated heart rate level for a period of time. The heart is a muscle just like any other, but it works differently. Pumping iron will not strengthen the heart muscle as it does the biceps and quads. The only way to strengthen the heart muscle is through cardiovascular exercise. Cardiology specialists recommend a minimum of 15 to 20 minutes of ex...

Cardiology transcription is a specialized record of medical transcription that deals with creation, transfer and storage of vascular health records of a particular patient. When a patient visits hospital or healthcare facility, the doctor, after proper diagnosis, dictates all observations and records them in a recording device.  This recorded voice is sent to a transcriptionist, who converts it into a computer text file. The text file is sent back to the doctor, who can now easily store it in his or her computer and retrieve it easily, whenever needed during the course of treatment. The transcriptionist should be well versed in cardiac terminology and have good knowledge about the cardiovascular system of the body so that he or she can easily understand the dictation and convert it into an error free, electronic text. When it comes to cardiology transcription, following types of medical reports are generally, transcribed: MUGA scan – It is known a...

Cardiology has been a main medical specialty throughout the history of modern science. Cardiologists treat diseases and irregularities of the heart. A general cardiologist does not perform surgery. Physicians in the cardiology field who do perform surgeries include cardiac pulmonologists, cardiothoracic surgeons, and cardiovascular surgeons. Modern cardiology has a deeply rooted history with theories still in use dating back to 1628. In that time, it was believed that blood came from the liver (probably from the observation of war wounds from the abdomen bleed profusely) and was absorbed by tissues directly. William Harvey published an essay in that year paving the way for the study of what we now know as the circulatory system; whose primary engine is the heart. The first cardiac surgery in 1801 was performed in Spain by Francisco Romero, but was met with great disapproval by the medical community. His pioneering efforts were halted for quite some time. The y...

What Is Bradycardia? In the Greek language means “heart slowness”. It is basically a heart rate that is under 60 beats per minute while a person is at rest. Bradycardia is usually not detectable unless the heart rate drops to below 50 beats a minute. This slower heart rate can produce heart attacks in some individuals or even cardiac arrests. A cardiac arrest differs from a heart attack. It is caused by the normal circulation of the blood getting interrupted from the lack of heart contractions. A heart attack usually happens as a result of an interruption of the blood flow specifically to part of the heart that causes cells in the heart to die. Bradycardia may trigger a heart attack or cardiac arrest when the slow heart rhythms (bradycardia’s) are unable to pump sufficient supply of oxygen to the heart. With insufficient oxygen, the heart can display symptoms that resemble a heart attack. An individual may have difficulty breathing or have a fainting spell. It...

Mostly people think aneurysm as an instant killer or something that cannot be detected or prevented, and while it is true that many die of brain aneurysms each year, there are couple other kinds that cardiology professional see that are silent killers. Aortic aneurysms, both thoracic and abdominal can be detected, watched, and operated on for a life-saving effect; the difficult part is diagnosis. Most of these bulges in the aorta are found either accidentally as a part of another exam or by doctors, such as cardiologists, who have deemed a patient as a risk. Risks factors include high blood pressure, smoking, genetics, fatty build up in the arteries, infections and trauma, and those who have exhibited some of these symptoms are usually already under the care of a cardiologist for other reasons when these tears and bulges are found. If it is small upon discovery, the condition will be monitored while steps are taken to reduce the risk of rupture. First and fore...

Mostly patients have symptoms prior to an real heart attack – generally a “tightness” behind the breastbone, which mainly is caused by an increase in heart rate. The coronary arteries fill in between heart beats therefore anything which increases your heart rate will reduce the time your coronary arteries have to provide blood flow to the heart muscle- the myocardium. Once the heart muscle is deprived of oxygen it becomes irritable leading to palpitations and, if not relieved, death of the muscle. Surrounding the dead muscle is a variable sized area of heart muscle at risk of dying because of inadequate oxygen supply – this condition is known as myocardial ischemia. The heart rate is under the control of the autonomic nervous systems, which, in the case of the heart, is driven by adrenaline the so-called “flight or fight” hormone. Adrenaline acts at various sites of the body – On the sinus node in the heart which controls rate to increase heart rate – On the bro...

Implantable Cardiac defibrillators are invasive cardiac surgery advance in cardiac care. Health science have made amazing technological advances in cardiac surgery over the past several decades. Modern equipment, procedures, and knowledge about heart disease risk allows us to save more patient lives than ever and bring the risk of dying from a heart attack to a lower figure. Implantable defibrillators are another innovative solution to a serious cardiac problem. These devices are implanted in the chest to control sudden problems in patients who suffer from tachycardia, or an abnormally fast heart rhythm. A fast, out-of-control heart rhythm can strike suddenly and interfere with the heart’s ability to pump blood to the entire body.  In a normally functioning human heart, the heart’s lower and upper chambers pump in sync with each other – delivering even and consistent blood flow. With heart failure brought on by tachycardia, something interferes with the...

What Is Defibrillation? It is a specific medical treatment in which a defibrillator (An apparatus used to control heart fibrillation by application of an electric current to the chest wall or heart) delivers electrical energy to an afflicted heart. Healthcare professionals determine the level of electrical charge (joules) to apply, based on their experience and tested practices under medical consultation. The electrical charge is applied to the patient’s chest through pads or paddles connected to the defibrillator. The electrical shock to the heart depolarizes a critical amount of the heart’s muscle, stops the arrhythmia (beating), and lets the regular sinus rhythm restart through the body’s natural pacemaker chemicals, in the sinoatrial node of the heart. This device is used for life-threatening conditions such as cardiac arrhythmias or a ventricular fibrillation. A cardiac arrhythmia occurs when there is unusual electrical activity inside the heart. The hear...

Chest pain causes concern in the patient as it is mostly related to an heart attack or severe pain and people are nowadays knowledgeable of the serious consequences of the symptom. However not all times is a chest pain necessarily originating from or caused by diseases of the heart. There are plenty of other structures in the thoracic cavity and a systematic approach is needed to arrive at the correct diagnosis or in other words to find out the ?real culprit? causing the chest pain. Of special importance is the issue of chest pain in women, as this group is less liable to get heart disease till menopause. Estrogen is said to confer a protective effect and prevents the development of atherosclerosis. Myocardial infarction or Coronary artery disease (CAD) is very rare in menstruating women. As menopause approaches and estrogen levels go down, the probability of development of CAD catches up with those in men. Even then, there are lots of young to middle ...

ECG (electrocardiogram) is a test that measures the electrical activity of the heart. The heart is a muscular organ that beats in rhythm to pump the blood throughout the whole body. The signals that make the heart's muscle fibres contract come from the sinoatrial node, which is the natural pacemaker of the heart. In an ECG test, the electrical impulses made while the heart is beating are recorded and usually shown on a piece of paper. It's known as an electrocardiogram, and records any problems with the heart's rhythm, and the conduction of the heart beat through the heart which may be affected by underlying heart disease. The information taken from an electrocardiogram can be used to discover various types of heart disease. It may be useful for seeing how well the patient is responding to treatment. It is a good idea to have an ECG in the case of symptoms such as dyspnoea (difficulty in breathing),chest pain(angina),fainting, ...

There are 3 main categories of heart failure — dilated cardiomyopathy (cardiomyopathy is a term that means heart muscle disease), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and diastolic dysfunction. Once you are sure which category of heart failure you have, you can read below to learn more about your condition. Dilated cardiomyopathy - is the most common variety of heart failure; most people who are told they have heart failure have dilated cardiomyopathy. Dilated cardiomyopathy is the end result of a large variety of heart diseases, especially coronary artery disease and valvular heart disease. This type of heart failure occurs when the ventricles (the large pumping chambers of the heart) become weakened, flaccid and dilated. As a result, the pumping action of the heart becomes weak, the amount of blood pumped with each heart beat drops (or, to say it another way, the ejection fraction is reduced), and the body’s organs may not receive their full quotient of blood.  ...

Recent research involving people have found that higher sodium intake was associated with increased mortality from cardiovascular disease. At the same time, higher potassium intake was associated with lower mortality risk. Most likely elevated blood pressure related to high sodium intake is one of the reasons for this increase in heart disease. High blood pressure increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. Interestingly, vegetarians in general have a lower incidence of heart disease than non-vegetarians, even when they consume the same amount of salt per day as meat eaters. Why is this the case? Well, in general vegetarians consume higher amounts of potassium (found in fruit, vegetables and legumes) which is essential for heart health. In general, the average potassium to sodium consumption ratio in is 1:2. This means that people are consuming twice as much salt as potassium – but the optimal ratio is 5:1, that is, 5 times as much potassium as sodium. So n...

Coronary heart disease, is the narrowing blockage of the coronary artery, a large blood vessel that supplies blood to the heart. This narrowing is caused by fatty deposits in the artery itself and is the leading cause of heart attacks.. Cardiac disease of all types is, indirectly, the leading cause of maternal death. The risk of developing coronary heart disease increases significantly with age beyond 35 years and more significantly even in those over 50 years. Many factors have led to the increase in the number of pregnant women who suffer with coronary heart disease. The age at which women are able to conceive and sustain a pregnancy has, on average, increased with many factors driving this, not least, increases in health care and fertility medicine. Lifestyle changes have, without doubt, contributed to the rise in younger women developing coronary heart disease. The huge rise in obesity is an obvious starting point and, according to current statistics, the n...

Doctors will ask you many questions about your symptoms and your medical history. You will be asked about any conditions you have that may cause heart failure (such as coronary artery disease, angina, diabetes, heart valve disease, and high blood pressure).So it’s good to have your health data with you when you visit your doctor You will be asked if you smoke, take drugs, drink alcohol (and how much you drink), and about what drugs you take. You will also get a complete physical exam. Your doctor will listen to your heart and look for signs of heart failure as well as other illnesses that may have caused your heart muscle to weaken or stiffen. Your doctor may also order other tests to determine the cause and severity of your heart failure. These include:  Blood tests. Blood tests are used to evaluate kidney and thyroid function as well as to check cholesterol levels and the presence of anemia. Anemia is a blood condition that occurs when there is not enough ...

Treatment of heart failure concentrates on slowing or reversing its progression. Starting early treatment will be a better result. From a initial diagnosis, your doctor will recommend several lifestyle changes. You may be asked to reach and maintain a healthy weight, increase your activity level (after consulting your doctor), restrict salt intake, restrict fluid intake, and avoid alcohol. If you smoke or chew tobacco, you’ll be advised to stop. You will need to work with your doctor to find the right balance of rest and activity — mobility is important to keep blood circulating. You will also need to weigh yourself daily and record your weight to detect fluid retention. Your doctor will also prescribe several medications to manage your heart failure or the underlying problem that caused the heart failure. Drugs used to treat heart failure, often in combination, include: Diuretics or water pills to help the body eliminate excess salt and water. Example...