The Causes Of Heart Disease

Causes of Heart Disease

There are no exact know causes of heart disease, although many studies have shown clues that would link certain factors to causing heart disease.These clues can sometimes present a complicated picture. For many years, the lipid theory or diet-heart premise has dominated medical thinking about heart disease. In general, this theory suggests that eating foods rich in saturated fat and cholesterol deposits these cholesterols in the arteries and form plaque or atheromas causing blockages. These blockages if severe cause the blood not to be able to pass through and the heart is starved of blood thus heart attack occurs.

A lot of renowned scientists have pointed serious flaws to this theory, starting with the fact that heart disease in America has increased during the time that consumption of saturated fats decreased. Although clues to factors that causes heart disease show a complicated picture, it is not beyond the abilities of scientists to untangle them neither is it undoable for consumers to make reasonable life style changes to improve ones chances.

Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is a complex of diseases of varied etiology and is not just a single disease. Some identified causes of heart disease include congenital defects that have damaged the heart muscle valves; or heart muscle damage or inflammation linked to various bacterial, viral, rickettsial, fungal, or parasitic diseases. Syphilis or rheumatic fever can also lead to heart disease as can genetic or autoimmune disorders where cellular proteins in the heart muscle are unbalanced or enzymes are disrupted affecting the cardiac function.

These factors possibly contributes to most causes of heart disease that has been recorded in the early part of the century, when infectious diseases rates were much higher and antibiotics were not in use. However, heart disease was moderately rare in the 1900's accounting to approximately eight percent of all deaths in the U.S.

Identifying the underlying causes of heart disease or cardiovascular conditions, physicians will be able to make a giant step to preventing that start or bringing an end to the progression of heart disease. Some of the more considered causes of heart disease are as follows:

Basic Atherosclerosis
Several studies have examined the role of lipids, dietary factors, diabetes, and blood pressure in playing a vital role in the onset of cardiovascular or heart disease, specifically in the buildup of plaque. The Strong Heart Study scrutinizes the role that risk factors contribute to the development of heart disease among diabetic patients.



Clotting
Studies on platelets are attempting to determine the potential for clot formation in patients who experience catheterization procedures.

Infectious Agents
Numerous studies are already underway to determining the role that infections play in the development of atherosclerosis, together with studies on examining the treatments for infections that may restrain atherosclerosis.

So how can we prevent heart disease? Based on scientific studies, formulating a set of guidelines for heart disease prevention that includes both avoiding external stresses and common sense dietary advice can be a good start. Of course not all external stresses can be avoided but having a good and healthy diet can provide many factors that can help the body in dealing with environmental toxins and high levels of stress.