Causes of Heart Disease: Understanding is Prevention

Understanding the causes of heart disease is the best way to prevent it from happening. Currently, research has found various causes of heart disease. Damage to the heart muscle or valves due to birth defect, irritation and damage related to various viral, bacteria, fungi, and parasite are some of the causes of heart disease.

Other contributors or causes of heart disease are illnesses such as syphilis and rheumatic fever as well as genetic or autoimmune disorders. Autoimmune disorders happen when the body produces an inappropriate immune response against its own tissue.

Besides the factors above, there are still other causes of heart disease as follow:

- Atherosclerosis (a chronic inflammatory in the arterial blood vessels) - Dermatomyositis (inflammation of the skin and the muscles due to connective-tissue disease) - Type 1 and 2 diabetes - Friedrich's ataxia (a hereditary disease causes progressive damage to the nervous system) - Hemochromatosis (iron overload disorder) - High cholesterol - Hypertension - Kawasaki disease (a cardiovascular disease happened mostly in young children) - Menopause - Paget's disease of bone (enlarged and deformed bones due to a chronic disorder) - Lack of exercise - Smoking habit - Underweight or overweight

There are two factors that are deemed to instigate a heart attack. First is a pathological build up of abnormal plaque in the arteries which hardens steadily because of calcification. This abnormal plaque is different with the fatty streaks and thickening happened in the arteries of both industrialized and primitive peoples in the world. In reality, this natural thickening is necessary or else the arteries would weaken as the body aged and create aneurysms and rupture of the arteries.

The second factor is the blockage of blood flow to the heart or the brain due to blood clot (thrombus). Inflammation has a potential to create blockages as well. Recent findings in coronary artery disease mentioned the inflammatory process which follows the cycle of irritation, injury, healing, and re-injury of the blood vessels, is responsible for the disease.

As I mentioned previously, it is critical to understand the causes of heart disease if you want to prevent it. Basically, heart disease is inevitable. However, several activities are recommended to protect yourself, such as healthy eating habit and adequate exercise or physical activity. When you keep yourself in a good shape, you will reduce dramatically the causes of heart disease as well as preventing other illnesses to come.

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