Department: Cardiology

HMG Dubai , a world of expertise

HEART DISEASE

Is any condition that affects your heart’s ability to do its job, which is to pump blood throughout your body, feeding oxygen to all your tissues and organs. Sometimes, people are born with heart problems; this is called a congenital heart condition. More commonly, heart problems develop as we get older, usually rearing its ugly head for the first time in middle age or later. In a recent study done by Professor Samer Hamidi from the Hamdan Bin Mohammad Smart University (HBSMU) that for every 100,000 cases of heart disease in the UAE 340 cases lead to mortality. Therefore, 36 percent of deaths in the UAE are caused by heart disease.

Symptoms of Heart Disease:
Key risk factors for developing cardiovascular disease include:

A family history of heart disease
Poor eating habits
Lack of exercise or a sedentary lifestyle
High stress
Smoking
Being Male
Being Overweight
Having Uncontrolled High Blood Pressure
Having Uncontrolled Diabetes
Having High Cholesterol

TYPES OF HEART DISEASES

There are several types of heart disease, which can be divided into four groups:

Heart Valve Disease:

Your heart has valves that control the flow of blood through its four chambers. You can be born with abnormalities in your heart valves, or they can be damaged by infection or changes that occur in your heart as a result of aging and poor lifestyle habits. Heart valve disease comes in two forms: stenosis, when the valves become too narrow for enough blood to pass through, and regurgitation, where the valve does not perform properly and allows blood to pass both forward and backward, instead of just forward. Your doctor can sometimes hear problems with your valves with a stethoscope as a heart murmur. Problems with your heart valves can lead to heart failure, in which one or more of the chambers of your heart cannot pump blood properly.

Coronary Artery Disease

Coronary heart disease is when the blood vessels leading to your heart can become damaged or blocked up by plaques, which are made up of cholesterol, calcium, and other material. Partially blocked arteries can lead to angina, where you develop chest pain, often upon exerting yourself. A heart attack occurs when one of the arteries becomes completely blocked.

Heart Muscle Disease

Many medical conditions directly or indirectly related to the heart, including coronary artery disease, diabetes, and heart valve disease, can eventually lead to damage to the heart muscles. When this happens, the muscles can no longer properly pump blood throughout your body. Eventually, this can lead to heart failure and arrhythmias.

Arrhythmias

Your heart needs to pump to a regular beat to effectively push blood throughout the body. When this beat becomes irregular, it’s called cardiac arrhythmia. People who have other heart problems are more susceptible to arrhythmias.

How Do I Know I Have Cardiovascular Disease?

Some signs of heart disease are pretty obvious while others are vaguer, making the condition sometimes tricky to diagnose. Some key signs that your heart may not be working up to par include:

Signs of a Heart Attack

Heart attack symptoms that should send you immediately to the emergency room include a sudden onset of:

Diagnosis of heart disease

Your doctor can confirm the diagnosis of heart disease through a physical exam and one or more of many available tests, the most common of which are:

Electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG)
Stress Test
Echocardiogram
Thallium or Cardiolite scan
Cardiac Catheterization and Coronary Angiography
Holter Monitoring
Cardiac Computerized tomography (CT) scan
Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Treatments for Heart Problems

There are several treatments for heart disease, and what your heart specialist chooses for you will depend on exactly what is wrong with your heart and how severe your problem is. Some treatment options include:

One of the most important treatments for heart disease is a lifestyle change. In addition to following your doctor’s advice about medication use, be sure to ask for advice about starting an exercise and diet plan.

What is a Heart Attack (myocardial infarction or MI)?

A heart attack, or myocardial infarction, occurs when one or more regions of the heart muscle experience a severe or prolonged decrease in oxygen supply caused by blocked blood flow to the heart muscle.
The blockage is often a result of atherosclerosis – a buildup of plaque, known as cholesterol, and other fatty substances. Plaque inhibits and obstructs the flow of blood and oxygen to the heart, thus reducing the flow to the rest of the body.
If the blood and oxygen supply is cut off severely or for a long period of time, muscle cells of the heart suffer severe and devastating damage and die. The result is damage or death to the area of the heart that became affected by reduced blood.

What are the Warning Signs of Heart Attack?

The following are the most common symptoms of heart attack. However, each individual may experience symptoms differently. Symptoms may include:

Severe pressure, fullness, squeezing, pain and/or discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts for more than a few minutes
Pain or discomfort that spreads to the shoulders, neck, arms, or jaw
Chest pain that occurs with any/all of the following (additional) symptoms:
Shortness of breath
Nausea or vomiting
Dizziness or fainting
Unexplained weakness or fatigue
Rapid or irregular pulse
Severe stomach upset that comes on abruptly

Although chest pain is the key warning sign of a heart attack, it may be confused with indigestion, pleurisy, pneumonia, or other disorders. If you have any of the symptoms mentioned please seek medical advice.
Also, if you have a family history of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes or stroke, or if you are a heavy smoker, it is extremely important to have your heart checked on a yearly basis and monitor your blood pressure regularly. You must take it seriously and see any of our board certified Cardiologists today and book your appointment.

Get in Touch

If you experience any of these signs of heart attach do not hesitate to contact your doctor or you can call us +971 44297777 and book an appointment. Also, for any query, you can mail us at infodubai@drsulaimanalhabib.com, we will be happy to assist you in any regard.