Heart disease is one of the common causes of death for both men and women around the world. Many already know that having high cholesterol and high blood pressure can put your heart at risk. These conditions can be expected if you are not eating healthy food and also having a lack of physical activity.
Generally, you can reduce your risk of getting heart problems by living a healthy lifestyle such as eating healthy, getting active, quit smoking, and control your weight and cholesterol levels.
What is heart disease?
When you hear about heart disease, you instantly think about coronary heart disease – a condition in which the arteries that take blood to the heart are narrow or blocked. When there is a blockage, it’s hard for the blood to flow properly to your heart. This will cause chest pain that can lead to a heart attack which can be lethal. For heart attack, there are symptoms that you can take note such as having pain or discomfort in the left side of the chest, shortness of breath, stomach ache, dizziness and breaking out in cold sweat.
What about conduction disorders?
When you talk about your heart health, you should also be concerned about conduction disorders as they can also put your heart at risk. When we say conduction disorders, it is how electrical impulses travel through your heart – the one that causes your heart to beat. The way your heart beats is called the heart rhythm. Did you know that having conduction disorders can also cause arrhythmias and irregular heartbeats?
There are two common conduction disorders you should know:
- Sick sinus syndrome
- Heart block
Sick sinus syndrome
The sinus node is the “switch” that turns on the heart’s electrical system. If the sinus node does not work properly, then the electrical system of the heart can be slowed, or be paused. Sometimes a pacemaker is needed to correct this problem.
Heart block
When the electrical signals that happen from the heart’s upper chambers to its lower chambers are compromised, it causes signal transmission problems which can cause the heart to beat slowly. There are several degrees of heart block – first degree, second degree and third-degree heart block.
Heart problems are serious health conditions and should not be ignored. If there are changes in how you feel, talk to your doctor and get your heart check to be sure that it is healthy and you are not experiencing conduction disorders at all.