A Brief Note On Atherosclerosis And Its Effects On The Heart Essay

     Atherosclerosis is one of a group of health problems that define coronary artery disease, oftentimes referred to as heart disease. Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of heart disease in the United States. The following is the definition provided by the American Heart Association:

The term, ischemia, denotes inadequate blood supply to tissues due to blockage of the arterial inflow, while, reperfusion injury is defined as the injury caused by the restitution of blood flow after an ischemic peroid, leading to death of cells that were only reversibly injured at the time of blood flow restitution. [63]. The final infarct size after an MI event is therefore the result of the ischemic and reperfusion damage. For this reason, the term that best describes this process of myocyte death in reperfused MI is myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury [64]. In the early hours post myocardial ischemia, injured cardiac cells can release several molecules, including adenosine, opioids, and bradykinin, which activate the G

These stated facts very well implicate an imperative need to investigate promising alternative treatment strategies as well preventive measures. Impairment in cardiac functions, organ (heart) failure or trigger of compensatory mechanisms (hypertrophy, neurohumoral system activation, autokrine, paracrine stimulation, etc) are the result of loss in cardiac myocytes predominantly due to myocardial infarction (Zimmermann and Eschenhagen, 2003). In addition to the traditional treatment of

Heart muscle died as a results of myocardial infarction (MI) which the main coronary arteries was blocked, and large part of the heart muscle was affected due to cellular death from lack of blood flow and oxygen. Cell death is one of the most crucial events in the evolution of MI. A heart attack or MI is usually caused by a blood clot (thrombosis) that forms inside a coronary artery, or one of its branches, which suddenly blocks and stops the blood flowing to a part of the heart muscle. When the blood flow is interrupted necrosis occurs ( McCance & Huether, 2014).

The heart is an organ that pumps blood from the body and maintains all the organs functioning to keep one alive; when one of the arteries that receive blood is blocked it can cause a heart attack or myocardial infarction (MI). “During a heart attack, the heart muscle (the myocardium) is damaged, and part of it die from lack of blood” (book, p. 429).

Intro- Heart Failure is a multifactorial disease due to significant diminishing of heart pumping action. This is occurs in response to many underlying disease such as diabetes, hypertension, myocardial infarction and cardiac myopathies. These conditons lead to hemodynamic instability, neuroendocrine imbalances and structural remodeling of cardiac myocytes. Early less sever hf allows for compensatory mechanisms such as neuroendocrine stimulation- (beta adrenbergic r endothelin norepinephrine r), and hypertrophy which allow for sufficient left ventricular pumping action. However as hf develops these mechanisms become unable to compensate for the progressive underlying disease which results in further loss of contraction and relaxation efficiency and loss of regulation.

Our body system is not immune to pathological deficiencies. There exist numerous identified pathologies which compromise the regular functioning of a heart, but all heart-related pathologies are narrowed to a single condition known as Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS). This is the term properly used in reference to the different identified clinical entities threatening the cardiovascular system. ACS is the result of the progressive or complete sudden blocking of the arteries or veins; this prevents an appropriate blood flow through the circulatory system, and as a consequence, the body is unable to receive enough oxygen and nutrients to meet its daily necessities.

Atherosclerosis, which is a chronic inflammatory disease amongst the arteries of the human body, remains the principal cause of cardiovascular related disease (Gets, 2011). Atherosclerosis results from a complicated relationship between different factors such as lipid metabolism, blood coagulation elements, cytokines, hemodynamic stress, and behavioral risk factors. (Singla et al., 2011) The pathogenesis of atherosclerosis involves oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction and chronic inflammation, which are initiated in response to high plasma lipid levels, especially Low Density Lipoproteins. (Yu et al., Getz., 2011) Atherosclerosis is a benefactor to the pathogenesis of myocardial and cerebral infarctions, gangrene and

Atherosclerosis is a disease in which fatty materials and plaque buildup on the inner lining of arteries. Arteries are blood vessels which carry rich blood to the heart and throughout the body. They’re lined by the endothelium, a thin layer of cells. The endothelium keeps blood flowing by keeping the inside of arteries smooth. However, when Atherosclerosis starts due to high blood pressure, smoking, or high cholesterol, it damages the endothelium. Atherosclerosis tends to happen throughout the body and arises when people grow older. This disease is mainly due to the deposition of fatty materials i.e., cholesterol, calcium and other substances found in the blood. The buildup of fat then hardens causing narrowing of the arteries. This

One source of great mortality and morbidity in Europe and North America is the cardiovascular disease, Atherosclerosis. It is recognized as a chronic inflammatory disease of the intermediate and large arteries characterized by the thickening of the arterial wall and is the primary cause of coronary and cerebrovascular heart disease (Wilson, 2005). It accounts for 4.35 million deaths in Europe and 35% death in the UK each year. Mortality rate are generally higher in men than pre-menopausal woman. Past the menopause, a woman’s risk is similar to a man’s (George and Johnston, 2010). Clinical trials have confirmed that lipid accumulation, endothelial dysfunction, cell proliferation, inflammation matrix alteration and foam cell formation are

Heart muscle death occurs when the myocardial tissue suffers severe oxygen deprivation. The reduction of blood flood to the heart by 80%-90% causes ischemia which then leads to myocardial necrosis if the blood flood is not restore as soon as possible. Coronary artery atherosclerosis, plaque rupture, thrombosis and blockage, also known as occlusion of blood flow to the heart result into myocardial infarction. Additionally, coronary artery muscle spasm, aggregation of platelets and mural thrombi forming emboli are other factors that may cause myocardial infarction.

A heart attack, also known as a myocardial infarction, usually occurs when a blood clot forms inside a coronary artery at the site of an atherosclerotic plaque. The blood clot severely limits or completely cuts off blood flow to part of the heart. In a small percentage of cases, blood flow is cut off when the muscles in the artery wall contract suddenly, constricting the artery. This constriction, called vasospasm, can occur in an artery that is only slightly narrowed by atherosclerosis or even in a healthy artery. Regardless of the cause of a heart attack, the oxygen deprivation is so severe and prolonged that heart muscle cells begin to die for lack of oxygen. About 1.1 million people in the United States have a heart attack every year;

Atherosclerosis is a type of arteriosclerosis. Arteriosclerosis is a general term for the thickening and hardening of arteries. Atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, is a pathological situation in which plaque builds up inside the arteries. Plaque is usually made of cholesterol, fatty substances, cellular products, calcium and fibrin (a clotting material in the blood). Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity from cardiovascular disease (CVD) around the world. The magnitude of this problem is so high that atherosclerosis claims more lives than all types of cancer combined and the financial burden are considerable1. It a complex, chronic pathological

According to neurochemistry, an appropriate way to understand the role of those factors in the matter of heart failure is the neurohormonal model. The neurohormonal model includes mechanisms such as HPA axis, cytokines-cascades, platelets and the autonomic dysregulation. Initially the hyperactivity of HPA axis has as a result the ever growing activity of sympathetic nervous system and the pour of epinephrine and and norepinephrine. In patients with heart failure those substances were observed commonly by medical doctors (Eisenhofer et al.,1996). Cytokines-cascades which are the TNF-a and interleukin-6 (IL-6), have the authority, when there are in high levels of concentrate to be predictable factors for heart failure (Deswal

Considering the aetiology of cardiac ischemia, where the myocardium receives a depleted oxygenated blood supply effecting cellular metabolism, causing cell injury and ultimately the death of muscle leading to decreased cardiac function, administration of high flow oxygen had always been considered highly effective in combating this condition.