Vulnerable Plaque in Heart Disease

Swelling (inflammation) is the body's natural reaction to an injury. Inflammation can happen anywhere on the skin, within the body, and even inside the arteries. Scientists are now learning inflammation may play a part in many of the diseases that come with aging, including coronary artery disease.

For many years, doctors have thought that the main cause of a heart attack or stroke or was the buildup of fatty plaque within an artery, leading to the heart or brain. In time, the plaque buildup would narrow the artery so much, that the artery would close off or become clogged by a blood clot. The lack of oxygen-rich blood to the heart would then lead to a heart attack. However these types of blockages cause only about 3 out of 10 heart attacks.

Researchers are finding people who that heart attacks do not have arteries severely narrowed by plaque! Vulnerable plaque may be buried inside the artery wall, and not bulge out and block the blood flow through the artery. This is why researchers began to look at how inflammation affects the arteries, and to see if inflammation could lead to a heart attack.

Sick Sinus Syndrome in Heart Disease

Any irregularity in your heart's natural rhythm is called an arrhythmia. Almost everyone's heart skips a beat now and again, and these mild palpitations are usually harmless.

Electrical impulses from the heart muscle (the myocardium) cause the heart to beat (contract). This electrical signal begins in the Sinoatrial Node, also called the SA node or the sinus node. The SA node is located at the top of the heart's upper-right chamber (the right atrium). The SA node is sometimes called the heart's "natural pacemaker." When an electrical impulse is released from the SA node, it causes the heart's upper chambers to contract.

Sick sinus syndrome is a type of arrhythmia. These are a group of signs and symptoms that tells doctors the SA node is not working properly. The SA node usually sends electrical impulses at a certain rate, but if the SA node is not working properly, the heart may beat too fast, too slow, or both.

Rheumatic Fever and Heart Disease

Before antibiotic medicines became widely used, rheumatic fever was the largest cause of valve disease. Rheumatic fever is a condition that is a complication of untreated strep throat. Strep throat is caused by a group A streptococcal infection found in the throat.

Rheumatic fever can damage body tissues by causing them to swell, but its greatest danger lies in the damage it can do to your heart. More than half of the time, rheumatic fever leads to scarring of the heart's valves. This scarring can narrow the valve and make it harder for the valve to open properly or to close completely. In turn, your heart has to work harder to pump blood to the rest of your body. This valve damage can lead to a condition called rheumatic heart disease, which, in time, can lead to congestive heart failure.