Arterial hypertension

Hypertension, also called elevated blood pressure or arterial hypertension, is a chronic medical condition where a patient has persistently elevated arterial blood pressure. Arterial Hypertension forces the heart to spend more energy to maintain the blood circulation in the vessels and thus exhausts the muscle. The blood pressure measurement includes two values (systole and diastole) depending on the contraction (systole) or the relaxation (diastole) of the muscle between the beats. The normal values at rest are between 100-140 for systolic (upper limit) and 60- 90 for diastolic (lower limit). When the usual values are 140/90 mmHg or higher, there is high blood pressure.

Anemia

Condition in which a patient doesn’t have enough healthy red blood cells to carry adequate oxygen to the body’s tissues. The symptoms are fatigue, pale skin, dizziness, headache, faster breathing, increased heart rate. Anemia is detected through blood examinations, which show decreased hemoglobin levels.

Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis – а chronic, progressive disease, in which the inner layers of the great and medium arteries there is plaque-build up.  Fat-based plaque accumulating on the inside of the arteries causes the vessels to narrow and stiff.

Heart failure

Heart failure – a progressive condition when the heart is unable to pump sufficiently to maintain the required blood flow for meeting the body’s needs. This leads to oxygen deficiency within the tissues and metabolic disorders.

Heart arrhythmia

Heart arrhythmia is a group of conditions involving heart rhythm disorder. The normal heart rhythm is regular and constant with the rhythm of the cardiac contractions.

Ischemic heart disease

Ischemic heart disease – a condition which includes stenosis or occlusion of one or more coronary arteries with subsequent myocardial ischemia, with or without chest pain. This is one of the most common heart diseases. It causes damage to the heart due to an insufficient oxygen supply to the heart muscle.

Atrial fibrillation

Condition with chaotic irregular contraction of the atriums, uncoordinated contraction of the heart cells and loss of quality contraction of the atria with fibrillation.

Atrial flutter

Atrial flutter – fast, irregular contractions of the heart atriums (between 300 and 360 per min).

Mitral stenosis

A narrowing of the mitral valve opening that blocks (obstructs) blood flow from the left atrium to the left ventricle.

Aortic stenosis

Abnormal narrowing (stenosis) of the aortic valve, reducing the blood flow from the left ventricle to the aorta.

Aortic regurgitation

Incompetence of the aortic valve, causing a back flow of blood from the aorta to the left ventricle. It is more common in men. Depending on its development it can be acute or chronic.

Infective endocarditis

An infection of the endocardial surface of the heart. In 90 % of the cases it is caused by bacterial infection with streptococci or staphylococci. The bacteria enters the blood through different inflammatory sites in the body and reaches the endocardium.

Myocarditis

Any inflammation of the heart muscle.

Pericarditis

Any inflammation of the pericardium (the tissue around the heart).

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM)

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a condition where the heart is enlarged, causing a disturbance of the heart contraction and pump failure.

Pulmonary embolism

A condition which includes pulmonary artery blockage. Symptoms include shortness of breath and chest pain.

Stable angina pectoris

Stable angina pectoris – a reoccurring and short-term chest pain, caused by insufficient transient myocardial oxygen delivery. It is provoked by exercise or emotional stress and is relieved by rest and/or nitroglycerin.

Obesity

Obesity – the state of being excessively overweight, causing a variety of health risks.

Atrioventricular block (AV-block)

A conduction disturbance of the electrical impulses between the atria and ventricles. AV block has three degrees and the 3rd is life-threatening and requires a pacemaker implantation.

Dyslipidemia

Dyslipidemia – disorder of the lipoprotein metabolism where there is an imbalance between the “good” high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and “bad” low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, increasing the risk of cardiovascular diseases.