What is Heart disease?
There are many types of heart disease. About 25% of all Americans have one or more types of cardiovascular disease. The major types of heart disease are atherosclerosis, coronary, rheumatic, congenital, myocarditis, angina and arrhythmia. Heart disease can arise from congenital defects, infection, narrowing of the coronary arteries, high blood pressure, or disturbances.
The first stages of heart disease are lesions and cracks forming in the blood vessel walls normally at the points of highest pressure or stress (near the heart). The second stage is the body trying to repair itself by depositing fatty substances (cholesterol, lipoproteins) inside the blood vessels to fill the cracks. Over time, without the proper body nutrient, vitamin C, to help keep the blood vessel walls from cracking and requiring constant repair, these fatty substances can begin to build up and clog the blood vessels causing stroke and heart attack.
Mayo Clinic population research shows heart disease may be rising
A Mayo Clinic analysis of two decades of autopsy results shows a long-term decline in the prevalence of coronary disease has ended and the disease may be on the upswing. The findings appear in today’s issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
“If this is borne out by future analyses, it will be the first change in the trend since the decline in heart disease death rates began in the mid-1960s,” says Cynthia Leibson, Ph.D., Mayo Clinic epidemiologist and senior author of the study. In their article, the researchers recognize the corresponding rise in national obesity and diabetes rates in roughly the same period but say that further research would be needed to establish any connection.
