What causes heart disease?

Heart disease can take many forms such as high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, heart failure, heart attack, or stroke. The more risk factors you have, the more likely you are prone to develop symptoms of heart disease. It is important to know the underlying cause of your heart disease to treat it effectively. By controlling as many risk factors as possible, you can support a healthy heart.

Major Risk Factors

Smoking

Smoking is one of the prime risk factors that increase the risk of heart diseases. The nicotine found in the cigarette harms your body in the following ways:

Raises your blood pressure levels
Increases the speed of your heart rate
Reduces the supply of oxygen to your heart
Damages the lining of your blood vessels, including your heart
Increases the risk of formation of blood clots in your arteries leading to blocked and narrowed arteries

High Blood Cholesterol

High blood cholesterol builds up in the walls of your arteries and causes atherosclerosis, a form of heart disease. Due to atherosclerosis, your arteries are blocked or narrowed, resulting in reduced blood flow to the heart. Thus, because of insufficient oxygen available to your heart, you may experience frequent chest pains. If due to the increased blockage, blood supply is completely stopped to a portion of your heart, it can result in a heart attack.

High Blood Pressure

Blood pressure measures the force or pressure of blood against the walls of blood vessels or arteries. Your heart pumps blood to your entire body system, and if you experience high blood pressure, your arteries become narrowed or clogged, making your heart work extra hard to pump blood through your narrowed arteries. It makes your heart walls thicker and decreases the efficiency of your heart to work at its optimal rate. Over time, it results in many heart diseases such as cardiac death, heart failure, coronary artery disease, heart attack, or enlarged left heart.

Diabetes

If you have diabetes, you are at increased risk of having a stroke or heart attack. Fatty deposits or plaques formed in diabetes causes your arteries to narrow down. If there is a sudden rupture in the plaques, it blocks your arteries and triggers a heart attack in your body. Diabetes also causes congestive heart failure in your body, wherein your heart loses its ability to pump blood effectively.

Overweight and Obesity

The term overweight and obesity describes a situation where in your body weight is considered higher than the healthy weight for a certain height. The extra weight makes you more prone to the heart ailments such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Both of these conditions are likely to result in any form of heart disease. Individuals who carry extra weight around their midsection are at the greatest risk of having heart disease. Losing even a little weight can help, to effectively control any heart disease.

Unhealthy Diet

An unhealthy diet increases your risk of having heart disease. The following foods are the prime culprits behind any heart disease.

Foods that are high in trans fats and saturated fats raises your blood cholesterol levels or a high-sodium diet that can result in high blood pressure.
Foods with an unhealthy amount of sugar that gives you extra calories without conferring any nutrients to your body, raises your risk for coronary heart disease.
Consuming alcohol more than the stipulated levels can cause weight gain and eventually increases your blood pressure.

Apart from the above-listed causes, there are many other factors that can contribute to heart disease. Stress or depressions, anaemia, sleep apnea, age, family history, or metabolic syndrome can cause heart diseases. Consuming medication that helps to strengthen your cardiovascular system such as PomeMax Pure High Strength Pomegranate Extract, or Bioconcepts Red Krill Oil may help you support the proper functioning of your heart.