How Does Heart Disease Affect the Body?

To better get a grasp of how heart disease affects the body, it is first necessary to understand how the circulatory system functions and what the role of the heart is.

The body’s circulatory system consists of the heart, blood, and blood vessels that are responsible for supplying oxygen to the body, and nutrients that are distributed within the body. For a body to function normally, nutrients and oxygen must be efficiently delivered to the different tissues and cells of the body. A malfunction or any disruption in the circulatory system will result in heart disease and will affect the metabolism process of the body.

Defining Heart Disease

Any type of disorder involving the heart and blood vessels is considered a form of heart disease. Heart disease is an umbrella term of several other conditions such as:

Congenital heart defects
Coronary artery disease
Arrhythmias or problems in the rhythm of the heart
Cardiomyopathy or heart muscle disease
Heart attack
Stroke
Angina

Although there are many causes of heart disease and different disorders that can be considered heart disease, there may be some similarities in symptoms and in the way those diseases affect the body.

Types of Heart Disease

Coronary artery disease results from the presence of plaque on the walls of the arteries. This causes blockages in the blood vessels. Along the cracks of plaque, blood clots can form and develop. They can grow and eventually block off the artery preventing the normal blood flow. If blood flow is affected, this will have a significant impact on other organs such as the lungs, heart, brain, and kidneys.

Peripheral Vascular Disease

Peripheral vascular disease results from blocked arteries in the legs or arms. It may affect your ability to move extremities, leading to disability, ulceration, gangrene, and in severe cases, amputation. There are also times wherein plaques may rupture, which can lead to artery closure.

Blocked Blood Vessels

Plaques present in the blood vessels, those which are responsible for delivering blood to the brain, may lead to a stroke. Blocked blood vessels in the heart on the other hand, may lead to a heart attack.

Kidneys

For blood vessel blockage in the kidneys, the results may involve kidney malfunctioning, elevated blood pressure, and kidney failure. Blockage in the arteries found in the intestinal area may affect the blood supply to the intestines.

Digestive System

If blood supply to the heart is not efficient, other parts of the circulatory system will be affected as well. The aorta refers to the artery that supplies the vessels with blood pumped from the heart. The portion of the aorta which extends down the diaphragm is referred to as the abdominal aorta. The abdominal aorta branches out into three other aortas responsible for supplying most of the blood to the digestive system.

Should the supply of blood to the colon or small intestine be altered or blocked in any way, the digestive system cannot function normally. This will result in intestinal ischemia. The effects of intestinal ischemia include:

Blockage
Ulcers
Inflammation
Blood clots
Dead intestinal tissues

With intestinal ischemia it is impossible for the digestive tract to absorb nutrients from food. This will bring about diarrhea or blood in stools. Left unattended, the infection and gangrene developed can lead to intestinal ischemia and even death.

Intestinal Ischemia

Symptoms of intestinal ischemia include abdominal pain which can be mild to severe. There is a possibility that a patient may have to move bowels more often. Other symptoms are vomiting, nausea, abdominal tenderness, and fever. Abdominal pain will progress until consumed food causes cramps within just 30 minutes of having a meal. Surgery may be required in order to remove and repair any blocked portions in the intestines.

There are many different ways in which heart disease can affect your body, depending on the type of condition you face.