HEART DISEASES

Common heart diseases | Diagnostics and therapy | PDF Heart Diseases

There are many diseases that can affect the heart and its structures and functions. Over the course of days to decades, symptoms can occur (e.g. shortness of breath, pressure/pain in the chest, dizziness, racing heart, etc.). However, the diseases can also remain undetected for a long time and are only diagnosed when the heart's function is already irreversibly impaired. Early detection helps to minimize risks to your health.

Common heart diseases

Within the Coronary heart disease (CHD), there is a progressive narrowing of the coronary arteries due to deposits of blood fats, blood cells, connective tissue and, to a lesser extent, calcium (arteriosclerosis). As a result, the blood flow to these vessels is initially disrupted when there is stress, and later possibly even at rest, and affected patients complain of a feeling of tightness in the chest, sometimes radiating to the left arm and jaw area, as well as a lack of air (angina pectoris).

In the acute case of CHD, a coronary artery closes within minutes to hours, the resulting circulatory disorder in the area of ​​the heart muscle behind it leads to a heart attack with severe chest pain (sometimes also in the back or stomach), sometimes also radiating to the left arm and jaw area and possibly together with shortness of breath, sweating and nausea. Risk factors include: obesity, lack of exercise, smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, elevated cholesterol levels, male gender and older age.

If the rhythmic sequence of the heartbeat is disturbed, this is called Arrhythmia. Sometimes there are palpable heart palpitations, extra beats (extrasystoles), pauses and palpitations. Depending on the severity, various symptoms can occur, such as a drop in blood pressure with or without dizziness, visual disturbances, a feeling of weakness, shortness of breath, sweating, a feeling of oppression and possibly brief fainting (syncope).

The four heart valves act like valves in the heart: they regulate the direction of blood flow. Heart valve defects can affect single or multiple heart valves and have various causes: heredity, age, inflammatory or infectious heart disease, rheumatic heart valve disease or chest injury. Most Valvular heart disease are acquired over the course of life; more rarely, they are congenital. Initially they can be symptom-free, but later poor performance and shortness of breath are typical symptoms.

Within the Heart failure (heart failure) There is a pathological disproportion between the amount of blood required by the body and the filling (diastolic) or pumping (systolic) function of the heart. Heart failure can occur acutely or as a result of chronic damage. The causes are the diseases listed above, but also other genetic, inflammatory, infectious, pulmonary and other factors. Heart failure can initially be symptom-free, but later typical symptoms include poor performance, shortness of breath and water retention in the lungs and legs.

Our offer diagnostics and treatment of heart diseases

• Medical history about the person, lifestyle and family
• Physical examination with inspection, palpation (feeling) and auscultation (listening)
• Blood pressure control at rest, during exercise, long-term blood pressure measurement over 24 hours
• ECG, exercise ECG (ergometry)
• Measurement of the ankle-brachial index and pulse wave velocity as indicators of arterial occlusive disease and individual vascular risk
  Ultrasound examinations of vessels and heart (duplex sonography and echocardiography)
• Laboratory tests
• Referral for further diagnostics and therapy to particularly qualified specialist colleagues (stress echocardiography, cardio-CT, cardio-MRI and cardiac catheter examination)
• Medikamentöse Therapie
• Advice on improving lifestyle habits (exercise, nutrition, stress)
• DMP/Curaplan KHK