The Heart

Other Health Topics

The Heart is the chambered muscular organ in vertebrates that pumps blood received from the veins into the arteries, thereby maintaining the flow of blood through the entire circulatory system.

Your body depends on the heart’s pumping action to deliver oxygen- and nutrient-rich blood to the body’s cells. When the cells are nourished properly, the body can function normally.

With heart failure, the weakened heart can’t supply the cells with enough blood.

At first the heart tries to make up for this by:

• Enlarging. When the heart chamber enlarges, it stretches more and can contract more strongly, so it pumps more blood.
• Developing more muscle mass. The increase in muscle mass occurs because the contracting cells of the heart get bigger. This lets the heart pump more strongly, at least initially.
• Pumping faster. This helps to increase the heart’s output.

The body also tries to compensate in other ways:

• The blood vessels narrow to keep blood pressure up, trying to make up for the heart’s loss of power.
• The body diverts blood away from less important tissues and organs to maintain flow to the most vital organs, the heart and brain.

These temporary measures mask the problem of heart failure, but they don’t solve it. Heart failure continues and worsens until these substitute processes no longer work.

Eventually the heart and body just can’t keep up, and the person experiences the fatigue, breathing problems or other symptoms that usually prompt a trip to the doctor.

Heart failure is different in every patient – the parts of the heart affected and the symptoms can vary widely. For this reason, your doctor may use several different terms for describing your heart failure.

The two main types of heart failure are chronic heart failure and acute heart failure .

Chronic heart failure is more common and symptoms appear slowly over time and worsen gradually.

Acute heart failure develops suddenly and symptoms are initially severe. Acute heart failure either follows a heart attack that has caused damage to an area of your heart or, more frequently, is caused by a sudden lack of ability by the body to compensate for chronic heart failure.

If you develop acute heart failure, it may be severe initially but may only last for a brief time and improve rapidly. It usually requires therapy and administration of medication by injection (intravenously).

Key messages to protect heart health

• Heart attacks and strokes are major–but preventable–killers worldwide.
• Over 80% of cardiovascular disease deaths take place in low-and middle-income countries and occur almost equally in men and women. Cardiovascular risk of women is particularly high after menopause.
• Tobacco use, an unhealthy diet, and physical inactivity increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
• Cessation of tobacco use reduces the chance of a heart attack or stroke.
• Engaging in physical activity for at least 30 minutes every day of the week will help to prevent heart attacks and strokes.
• Eating at least five servings of fruit and vegetables a day, and limiting your salt intake to less than one teaspoon a day, also helps to prevent heart attacks and strokes.
• High blood pressure has no symptoms, but can cause a sudden stroke or heart attack. Have your blood pressure checked regularly.
• Diabetes increases the risk of heart attacks and stroke. If you have diabetes control your blood pressure and blood sugar to minimize your risk.
• Being overweight increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes. To maintain an ideal body weight, take regular physical activity and eat a healthy diet.
• Heart attacks and strokes can strike suddenly and can be fatal if assistance is not sought immediately.

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Eating tart cherries leads healthy heart

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Index

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• Allotment Gardening and Health

• Binge drinking may lead to higher risk of heart disease

• Bioactive compounds in berries can reduce high blood pressure

• Blood pressure

• Cardiovascular diseases (CVDS)

• Childhood obesity, prevalence and prevention

• Congestive heart failure (CHF)

• Eating Less Healthy Fish May Contribute to America’s Stroke Belt

• Eggs may help prevent heart disease and cancer
• Energy drinks, Caffeine and Atrial fibrillation in healthy adolescents
• Five easy steps to improve heart health
• Heart attack terms
• Heart defect (patent foramen ovale)
• Increased walking and cycling will benefit health and climate more than lower emission motor vehicles
• Late nights can lead to higher risk of strokes and heart attacks
• Life Expectancy for Today’s Youth Cut Short by Obesity
• Mediterranean diet and lifestyle – Spanish heart risk study challenges image of
• Risk factors
• Rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease
• Stress, heart disease and sudden death
• Stroke, Cerebrovascular accident
  
• Traffic noise increases the risk of having a stroke

Online Resources

National Societies

Austrian Society of Cardiology
Belgian Heart League
Belgian Society of Cardiology
Association of Cardiologists of Bosnia & Herzegovina
British Cardiovascular Society
Bulgarian Society of Cardiology
Croatian Cardiac Society
Cyprus Heart Foundation
Czech Society of Cardiology
Danish Society of Cardiology
Finnish Cardiac Society
French Society of Cardiology
German Cardiac Society
German Heart Foundation
Hellenic Cardiological Society
Hungarian National Heart Foundation
Hungarian Society of Cardiology
Iceland Heart Association
Irish Cardiac Society
Irish Heart Foundation
Israel Heart Society
Italian Federation of Cardiology
Italian Heart Foundation
Lithuanian Heart Association
Lithuanian Society of Cardiology
Macedonia Society of Cardiology
Netherlands Heart Foundation
The Netherlands Society of Cardiology
Norwegian Society of Cardiology
Polish Cardiac Society
Portuguese Heart Foundation
Portuguese Society of Cardiology
Romanian Society of Cardiology
Society of Cardiology of the Russian Federation
Slovak Society of Cardiology
Slovenian Heart Foundation
Slovenian Society of Cardiology
Spanish Heart Foundation
Swedish Heart Lung Foundation
Swedish Society of Cardiology
Swiss Heart Foundation
Turkish Heart Foundation
Turkish Society of Cardiology

Reports

World Health Organisation

The Atlas
of Heart Disease
and Stroke

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