How Do You Get Heart Disease?

Heart disease is not exactly a single disease, but many possible diseases related to the heart. The most common disease is coronary artery disease, which is the leading cause of death in Americans.

There are quite a few risk factors that can cause heart disease. Diseases related to the heart can come in many different forms. The most common are coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, and stroke. It is close to the leading cause of death in all adults. This has caused lots of research on the disease and researchers have come up with many risk factors that can cause heart disease. The more risk factors you have, the more likely you are to develop a cardiovascular disease.

Major risk factors include:

• High Blood Pressure
• High Cholesterol
• Diabetes
• Obesity
• Smoking
• Physical Inactivity
• Gender
• Heredity
• Age

Minor risk factors include:

• Stress
• Sex Hormones
• Birth Control Pills
• Excess Alcohol

Symptoms of Heart Disease

Every heart disease has different symptoms, but many of them have similar symptoms. In most cases, it depends on the severity of your heart's condition as to whether you can identify any symptoms. The most common symptom is angina, which is a strong, burning pressure in the chest that is very uncomfortable. Other possible symptoms are:

• Sweating
• Nausea
• Weakness
• Dizziness
• Fast Heartbeat
• Irregular Heartbeats
• Shortness of Breath

Heart Disease and Exercise

Physical activity is very important because it is a major prevention method for heart disease. Besides, physical inactivity can cause many other risk factors like obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Regular aerobic exercise will significantly increase the chances of preventing heart disease and help promote overall health.

Heart Disease Medication

In more serious cases when lifestyle choices are not enough to help with heart disease, medications can be used to help correct heart issues. Many of the most common medications used are aspirin, ACE inhibitors, beta blockers, nitrates, diuretics and statins. You should always consult with your doctor about medications, how to take them, and if you are having any negative side effects from them.