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The heart is the center of the cardiovascular system. It pumps blood to all the cells of the body through the blood vessels. The blood pumped by the heart carries oxygen needed by the cells to function properly. Cardiovascular or heart disease is a group of heart problems that develop when both the heart and blood vessels are not functioning properly. Here are some problems that go along with heart disease:

1. Atherosclerosis - People with this type of heart disease have a build up of fat and cholesterol that narrows down the arteries making it difficult for blood to flow through.

2. Arteriosclerosis - Also known as the hardening of the arteries, this condition means that the arteries become thick and are no longer as flexible as needed to work the way they should.

3. Angina - People suffering from angina feel pain in their chest. This refers to the condition of the heart not getting enough blood.

4. Heart Attack - This condition occurs when blockage and blood clot cuts the blood flow to a certain part of the heart.

5. Stroke - This is the condition when a certain part of the brain is not getting enough blood due to a burst blood vessel or clot.

How Do You Develop Heart Disease?

Heart disease is not contagious. It is not like a cold or flu that you can just catch anywhere. However, there are certain factors that increase a person's risk of developing heart diseases. These are called risk factors.

Some of the risk factors are those that people can't avoid. These include aging and having some members in the family with a history of heart attack. However, there are also some other risk factors that people have control over. These are having hypertension or high blood pressure, smoking, not getting enough exercise, and being overweight.

What are the Signs and Symptoms of Heart Disease?

Many people are not aware they have heart disease until they experience chest pain, stroke, or heart attack. These conditions are emergency case and often require immediate attention. However, if it is not classified as an emergency case and a doctor or physician suspects the patient could have heart disease. The doctor can do some tests to know more about if the patient's heart and blood vessels are functioning the way they should.

Heart disease tests include:

• Electrocardiogram - This test analyzes the electrical activity of the heart. A doctor uses a monitor to see and determine if the patient's heart beat is normal.

• Echocardiogram - The test makes use of sound waves to check the heart problems. These sound waves bounce off certain parts of the heart, displaying an image of the patient's heart on the monitor.

• Stress Test - For this test, the doctor asks the patient to do certain exercises while he checks through the electrocardiogram machine how the heart muscles react.

• Catheterization - For this test, the doctor inserts a long and thin tube into the patient's body to inject a special kind of medical dye. This dye can then locate narrow areas in the arteries caused by plague buildup.

• Carotid Artery Scan - This test also makes use of sound waves to check blockages and blood clot in the carotid artery. The carotid artery is a large blood vessel located in the neck. It is responsible for the supply of blood to the brain.

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