Heart Healthy















			Human Blood Flow (Click Image to enlarge)



		Human Heart Anterior View (Click Image to Enlarge)

How Did I Get Here?

The Structure of Your Heart

In the middle of your chest tilted slightly to the left, you have an amazing, mostly hollow, pumping machine about the size of a clenched fist. It is divided into two parts by the septum, a thick band of muscle tissue. The right side of your heart receives blood returning from the organs of your body. It then it pumps it to your lungs where your blood receives a fresh reply of oxygen and releases carbon dioxide, a waste product. The left side of your heart receives the oxygen rich blood from your lungs and pumps it out to your body through the major artery of your body, your aorta. The left side of your heart is thicker because it has to supply blood to the whole body while the right sides job is just to send it to your lungs.

There are four chambers within your heart. The upper two are called atria, where your blood is briefly stored when returning to your heart. The atria then send your blood to the lower chambers, the ventricles, the main pumping chambers of your heart.

The blood flows from the upper to the lower chambers of your heart through the valves that work as one-way doors. The blood passes through them in only one direction. Four valves regulate the flow of blood from one part of the heart to another, the mitral, the aortic, the pulmonary, and the tricuspid

Where does your heart get its own oxygen? From the coronary arteries that surround the heart muscle and pump blood into every portion of it. The right coronary artery supplies blood to the right and left sides of your heart. The left main coronary artery has two main branches - the left anterior descending artery, which feeds the front left side of the heart, and the circumflex artery that feeds the back of your heart. These main coronary arteries have many branches that supply your heart muscle with oxygen-rich blood.

Heart Attack

The term "heart attack" or myocardial infarction refers to damage to the heart muscle due to complete blockage of a coronary artery. It can be caused by a blood clot plugging the coronary artery (coronary thrombosis) or a severe narrowing or obstruction in the coronary arteries (coronary artery disease) or a combination of both. We know that clots are more likely to occur in narrowed or blocked arteries. These blockages, which interfere with the blood flow to the heart muscle, decrease the oxygen supply. When there is total blockage of the blood flow, a part of the heart muscle is without oxygen. This can cause damage to the muscle and is called a heart attack. With new procedures such as a clot reducing medicine and angioplasty, heart damage can be kept to a minimum if the patient comes to the hospital immediately. If the heart is permanently damaged because of a lack of oxygen, a scar forms as the heart heels. Severe damage to the heart leads to a condition known as heart failure.

The Structure of Your Heart

Heart Attack

Angina Pectoris

Angina pectoris is the Latin for "chest pain." It is the heart’s way of telling us that it needs more oxygen-rich blood during or shortly after physical exertion, a stressful event, cold weather, or a large meal. Chest pain may even occur during rest. Angina is not a heart attack and it does not cause permanent damage to the heart unless it continues for more than approximately 20 minutes, and is not relieved by rest or nitroglycerin. Angina is a symptom of a temporary lack of blood flow to the heart muscle. Some people have occasional chest pain or discomfort and never have a heart attack. Others have silent ischemia (a lack of blood flow but no pain) and can go on to experience a heart attack.

Coronary Artery Disease

Coronary artery disease or atherosclerosis is a process in which small fatty layers (plaque) are deposited over many years along the inner walls of the artery. The constant depositing of plaque narrows the vessel and can eventually close off the flow of blood through the coronary arteries. CAD can be caused by high blood pressure, smoking, high cholesterol levels and diabetes. Angina pectoris is the Latin for "chest pain." It is the heart’s way of telling us that it needs more oxygen-rich blood during or shortly after physical exertion, a stressful event, cold weather, or a large meal. Chest pain may even occur during rest. Angina is not a heart attack and it does not cause permanent damage to the heart unless it continues for more than approximately 20 minutes, and is not relieved by rest or nitroglycerin. Angina is a symptom of a temporary lack of blood flow to the heart muscle. Some people have occasional chest pain or discomfort and never have a heart attack. Others have silent ischemia (a lack of blood flow but no pain) and can go on to experience a heart attack.

Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery

A surgical procedure where the blood vessels from another part of the body, usually a vein from the leg or an artery found in the chest is used to bypass the blocked coronary artery. This procedure allows detour blood to reach the heart muscle beyond the blockage.

Angioplasty

A thin flexible tube with a balloon at the tip is threaded through an artery in the groin or arm and guided to the narrowed coronary artery. Then a device, a balloon catheter - is used to open the narrowed artery allowing more blood to flow to the heart muscle.

Atherectomy

In another technique to remove blockage, a special tube is threaded. It contains a tiny rotating cutting blade at the tip that shaves of the fatty deposits in the artery. The fatty debris is collected in a chamber of the device, a trans-luminal extracation catheter (TEC) and is removed. The procedure is repeated until the artery is opened wide enough to improve blood flow. A tiny, permanent tube known as a stent may then be inserted to hold the vessel open.

Warning Signs

It's easy to deny warning signs and symptoms. Even if you have had a heart attack, it is wise to review the warning signs of a heart attack or angina.

Pain or discomfort -a feeling of heavy pressure, squeezing all burning of the chest, back, neck, arms, jaw or shoulders.
Unusual shortness of breath.
Weakness, dizziness or fainting associated with the pain or discomfort as described above.
Sweating or nausea.
Nausea or vomiting.
Rapid or irregular heartbeat.
A vague feeling of anxiety or doom

Remember:

Seek immediate medical attention if any of these symptoms are a new occurrence or are not relieved by rest or nitroglycerin. Seek the advice of your physician if unexpected mild episodes of angina or chest pain occur.