The Truth About Heart Disease

The Truth About Heart Disease

To put it bluntly, the heart is one of the most important muscles in our body. It pumps blood to the entire body. However, a problem arises when it can’t work properly. Heart Disease is the medical condition/s where the basic functionality of heart gets affected. It is one of the leading causes of death for men and women in the United States. Heart diseases fall under the broad spectrum of diseases that cover both heart and blood vessel related defects.

Coronary Artery Disease

Heart disease includes a series of critical conditions. For instance, ‘Coronary Artery Disease’ – it occurs when the blood supply gets disturbed or blocked due to the buildup of plaque in the arteries. These plaques are the effect of the buildup of materials like Cholesterol, fat and other identical substances. With the troubled blood flow, the heart muscles can’t circulate enough blood or oxygen the body needs. The severe condition might lead to Angina (Chest Pain) or even a heart attack.


‘Arrhythmia’ is another very common heart disease. It is related to abnormal heart rhythm. In normal cases, the heart works in a normal and regular sequence of electrical signals. An arrhythmia occurs when the heart beats too fast, too slow, or erratically in accordance with irregular electric signals. The heart can’t pump blood effectively if it doesn’t beat correctly. People often report having a fluttering feeling or palpitation in their chest. Sometimes, the heart suddenly stops working due to arrhythmias. This well-known phenomenon is known as Sudden Cardiac Arrest.

Congenital Heart Diseases, more often than not, refers to the heart defects one’s born with. The common scenarios behind the defects may include the internal walls of the heart, the valves, and the arteries.

Cardiomyopathy occurs when the heart muscle thickens and hamper the regular blood flow of the heart. Other than these most common diseases, vascular heart attack due to narrowed or blocked blood vessels.

Common Symptoms

The most common symptom is Angina or Chest Pain.

The patients might feel pressure in shoulders, necks, arms, jaw or back in addition to the squeezing pain in the chest.

Shortness of Breath

C-Reactive Protein Test (CRP)

What is CRP?

Literally, CRP is a substance produced by the liver in response to inflammation. Moreover, it can be considered as a markup for the level of inflammation in the body. More often than not, the level of CRP is measured by a blood test.

What does a CRP indicate?

The high level of CRP indicates the existence of artery inflammation in the heart. And if someone is diagnosed with a high CRP level, it signifies that s/he is at a greater risk of heart attack. On the other hand, other inflammatory circumstances can also elevate the CRP level.

Why do you need a CRP test?

CRP test helps the doctors to determine the risk involved for heart disease or stroke. On the other hand, according to a study, it is found that CRP test happens to be more effective compared to the cholesterol test to detect coronary defects in women. There are certain medical situations that can elevate the level of CRP. They are Cancer, Arthritis, Pregnancy, Lupus, and pneumonia.

What happens when someone has a high CRP?

From different medical studies, it’s been found that high CRP is associated with different conditions like potential risk of heart attack, coronary issues, and type-2 diabetes.

Is the CRP test for you?

On the occasion that you are already diagnosed with heart disease risk factors, the CRP test can help you monitor your health status better. In addition to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and smoking, people with a family history of heart disease are at a greater risk of heart disease and might go for CRP screening with the apt risk factors.

What does the test result mean?

Lower than 1 mg/L specifies the lowest risk of cardiovascular disease while 1 to 2.9 mg/L is the benchmark of the intermediate risk. A result more than 3 mg/L will fling the patient at a high risk for cardiovascular disease. Finally, a result more than 10 mg/L will require further tests and inquiries for this kind of rigorous inflammation.


What is Troponin?

Troponin is a protein that mixes with the blood at some point of heart attack. The plaque induced blood cot in the coronary arteries usually causes a heart attack. So, detecting the troponin in the blood allows the doctor to take steps immediately.

Troponin Test

A troponin test is used to measure the level of either troponin T or troponin I proteins in the blood. These proteins are usually released at the time of heart attack. The amount of troponin will be higher in the blood as the condition of the heart gets worsened.

Why do you need a Troponin Test?

For the most part, the troponin test is performed to check whether the heart attack has already transpired. The doctor might repeat the test based on the signs and symptoms of a heart attack.

What does the test result indicate?

If the protein cannot be detected in the blood, then it will be flagged as a normal test. On the contrary, if the report comes positive, then the patient will need to remain in the hospital for further diagnosis.

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