Diseases of the cardiovascular system are increasingly common among patients of different age categories. The reasons for this lie in the unsatisfactory state of the external environment, in the conduct of an incorrect lifestyle, in hereditary predisposition. One of the most common factors that affect the mortality of the population is myocardial infarction disease. Also, people suffer from myocarditis, hypertrophy of the myocardium of the heart, which is associated with improper functioning of the organ or the development of pathological processes in it.
Myocardium is
Myocardium is the thickest and most functionally powerful part of the heart wall. Forms its cardiac striated muscle tissue. The organ consists of cardiomyocytes interconnected by intercalary discs. As a result of their association into complexes or muscle fibers, a narrow-woven network is formed, which ensures the rhythmic contraction of the ventricles and atria. The myocardium of the left ventricle has the greatest thickness, the atria -the least. The atrial myocardium consists of deep and superficial muscle layers. Myocardium of the ventricles - from the inner, middle and outer.
The muscle fibers of the ventricles and atria begin in the fibrous rings that separate the atria from the ventricles. They are located around the left and right atriogastric openings, forming the skeleton of the heart (pulmonary trunk, rings around the aortic openings, fibrous triangles).
Myocardial disease
Myocardial disease or myocarditis occurs as a result of damage to the heart muscle by infections, protozoal or parasitic invasions, physical or chemical influences, in connection with autoimmune and allergic diseases. Allergies and infections are considered to be the main factors involved in the development of diseases. The myocardium is an organ in which inflammatory processes can occur as a complication of influenza, tonsillitis, diphtheria, scarlet fever, otitis media.
Toxins, viruses, microbes damage cardiomyocytes and cause humoral and cellular immune reactions, which is accompanied by the appearance of foci of necrosis, an increase in hypoxia, tissue edema, and increased vascular permeability. Ignoring the process can lead to its transition to a chronic form. Myocarditis is a group of diseases with different symptoms, pathogenesis and etiology. They are divided into immune and infectious. They also distinguish idiopathic myocarditis, in which the myocardium is severely affected. This disease is recognized as an extreme variant of infectious-allergic myocarditis.
Reasonsmyocarditis
Bacteria, acute viral infections (sepsis, pneumonia, scarlet fever, diphtheria and chicken pox, rubella and measles, influenza) can cause the development of the disease. The frequency of myocarditis during viral epidemics increases dramatically. The cause of the pathology may not be one infection, but more of them, while one may be the direct cause of muscle damage, and the second - a condition.
Immune system disorders and poisoning can also trigger the development of myocarditis. The development of the disease is promoted by physical activity and overvoltage.
Myocarditis symptoms
With infectious-toxic and viral myocarditis, symptoms appear due to severe intoxication. Symptoms of infectious-allergic myocarditis occur as a result of an exacerbation of a chronic disease. In case of poisoning (drug and serum myocarditis), it manifests itself a day after taking medication or administering serum. In some cases, the presence of pathology can only be detected using an ECG, since clinical manifestations are not expressed.
Myocardial dysfunction is accompanied by general symptoms, the severity and nature of which depends on the type of myocarditis. Most often, patients complain of shortness of breath, general weakness, fatigue, pain in the heart. The disease may be accompanied by arrhythmia, tachycardia, progression of heart failure, development of hydrothorax and ascites, liver enlargement, peripheral edema, pulmonary edema, swelling of the jugular veins. The course of myocarditis can be acute,subacute, chronic, recurrent and progressive.
Types of myocarditis
Myocarditis is differentiated based on clinical signs, consequences and etiology.
Bacterial myocarditis affects the interventricular septa and valve rings. Caused by diphtheria, Enterococcus aureus and Staphylococcus aureus. Although the disease is rare, it is very severe and often leads to the death of the patient as a result of deterioration in the contractility of the heart, its flabbiness and expansion. You can improve the patient's condition with the help of antibiotics and antitoxins.
The simplest organisms - trypanosomes - cause the development of extensive myocarditis against the background of Chagas disease. Pathology is characterized by a chronic course with arrhythmia and heart failure. Toxoplasmas cause myocarditis in immunocompromised patients. In giant cell myocarditis, giant cells are found that affect the myocardium. This causes heart failure, which progresses rapidly and ends in death. In addition, radiation myocarditis and Lym's disease are isolated.
Ventricular myocardial hypertrophy
Hypertrophy leads to an increase in the mass of the heart muscle. The condition is quite dangerous and can be fatal. This is the body's response to high blood pressure. Modern methods of treatment can prevent complications and improve the patient's well-being.
The diagnosis of left ventricular myocardial hypertrophy is made during a medical examination. Humancan live for years with this disease, not even knowing about its presence. Symptoms of pathology are somewhat reminiscent of angina pectoris. A person experiences pain in the heart, heart rhythm failures, shortness of breath during physical activities, fainting may occur. Hypertrophy of the left ventricular myocardium can cause severe complications, up to death. Timely diagnosis and adequate treatment can return a person to their usual way of life.
Causes of ventricular myocardial hypertrophy
Hypertrophy means that the ventricular myocardium is enlarged, resulting in excessive stress on the heart. As a result, the productivity of the heart accelerates. An increase in myocardial volume and loss of its elastic properties occurs as a result of the inability of the ventricles to eject blood into the aorta at a constantly increased rhythm. Among the factors that cause the development of hypertrophy: acquired and congenital heart defects, excessive sports, overweight, hypertension, impaired blood supply to the organ. Changes in the myocardium of the ventricles may be genetically determined.
The disease affects people of all ages, but children and newborns are most often at risk. Pathology can be caused by increased work of the heart when replenishing the lack of nutrition of the organs. Hypertrophy caused by increased pressure in the pulmonary artery is accompanied by fainting, shortness of breath, dizziness.
Myocardial infarction: causes
Myocardial infarction disease is today considered one of the most common causes of death from diseasesof cardio-vascular system. There is a list of causes that may be involved in the occurrence of a heart attack, the main of which is considered to be a blockage of the coronary artery. The development of the disease is facilitated by: violation of fat metabolism, obesity, diabetes mellitus, bad habits, vasospasm, physical activity, changes in blood clotting, hypertension, atherosclerosis, genetic predisposition.
Symptoms of myocardial infarction
Signs of the myocardium are very difficult to recognize, as they have many similarities with angina pectoris. But still, the pain during a heart attack lasts a long time and does not subside even at rest and after taking vasodilators. Along with severe pain, there is a feeling of unreasonable fear, anxiety. The patient is disturbed by symptoms such as dizziness, severe general weakness, vomiting and nausea, and increased sweating. Due to interruptions in the work of the heart, there is difficulty in breathing, the rhythm of heart contractions is disturbed, and a sudden loss of consciousness may occur. If the patient is not provided timely assistance for myocardial infarction, it can be fatal.
In some cases, a heart attack occurs without pain in the heart, mainly in patients with diabetes. Milder pain in women is accompanied by shortness of breath, vomiting, nausea, stomach pain.
Emergency
Help for myocardial infarction should be immediate and as effective as possible, because a person's life depends on it. First, the patient should help himself a little: calm down,take a position in which physical stress will be minimal, take an analgesic (drugs "Baralgin", "Analgin"), a nitroglycerin tablet, an aspirin tablet (if there are no allergic reactions, gastritis and peptic ulcers).
Relatives should immediately call a cardiological team, measure the patient's blood pressure, if possible, give a sedative (drops of motherwort, hawthorn, valerian). A patient with myocardial infarction should be in a supine or sitting position. Getting out of bed may cause severe dizziness. This is the result of lowering the pressure of the drug "Nitroglycerin".
Prevention of myocardial infarction
To avoid a heart attack, you need to control your he alth and fix any problems with it in time. Disease prevention can be primary (prevention of occurrence) and secondary (prevention of recurrence in those who have already suffered). Preventive measures are important not only for patients with heart problems, but also for completely he althy people. They are aimed at eliminating factors that can lead to the development of cardiovascular disasters.
The first thing a person should do is to control body weight, because overweight is the soil for the occurrence of diabetes, arterial hypertension. The patient is encouraged to lead an active lifestyle with exercise, outdoor walks, and giving up bad habits. It is necessary to control the level of cholesterol and sugar in the blood. You need to rethink your menu. Fatty dishes, sweets should be replaced with cereals, light salads, vegetables and fruits.
