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vessels that supply oxygen and blood to the heart. It is also known as coronary
artery disease. Coronary heart disease (CHD) normally happens
when cholesterol accumulates on the artery walls, creating plaques. The arteries
narrow, reducing blood flow to the heart. Sometimes, a clot can obstruct the flow
of blood to the heart muscle. Examples of coronary heart disease include angina
and heart attack.
Arrhythmia
An arrhythmia is a problem with the rate or rhythm of your heartbeat. It means that
your heart beats too quickly, too slowly, or with an irregular pattern. When the heart
beats faster than normal, it is called tachycardia. When the heart beats too slowly, it
is called bradycardia. The most common type of arrhythmia is atrial fibrillation, which
causes an irregular and fast heart beat. Many heart arrhythmias are harmless;
however, if they are particularly abnormal, or result from a weak or damaged heart,
arrhythmias can cause serious and even potentially fatal symptoms.
Heart failure
Heart failure, sometimes known as congestive heart failure, occurs when your heart muscle
doesn't pump blood as well as it should. It can occur when the heart muscle is too weak, or
when another defect prevents it from circulating blood properly. Over time, this failing
causes the organs to receive less blood. The term "congestive heart failure" is often used,
as one of the common symptoms is congestion, or build-up of fluid in a person's tissues and
veins in the lungs or other parts of the body.[4] Specifically, congestion takes the form of water
retention and swelling (edema), both as peripheral edema (causing swollen limbs and feet) and
as pulmonary edema (causing breathing difficulty), as well as ascites(swollen abdomen). This is
a common problem in old age as a result of cardiovascular disease, but it can happen at any
age, even in fetuses.
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
The obstruction is the result of the mitral valve striking the septum. When this occurs,
the mitral valve frequently leaks, causing the blood to go back into the left atrium.
Cellular changes, or changes in the cells of the heart muscle, occur with HCM. Through a
microscope, the cells appear disorganized and irregular (called “disarray”) instead of being
organized and parallel. This disarray may cause changes in the electrical signals traveling
through the lower chambers of the heart and lead to ventricular arrhythmia (a type of
abnormal heart rhythm). Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy affects one in 500 people. It is more
prevalent than multiple sclerosis, which affects one in 700 people.