20 Astonishing Varieties of Heart Disease: Your Ultimate Roadmap to Cardiac Chaos

3. Heart Failure

Heart failure occurs when an individual's heart is unable to meet their body's demands because it cannot pump blood well enough. Other conditions can cause individuals to develop heart failure. Examples include high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, faulty heart valves, cardiomyopathy, myocarditis, congenital heart defects, heart arrhythmia, and diabetes. Heart failure can be classified into different types depending on what region is failing. Left-sided heart failure causes blood and fluid to back up in the lungs because the left side of the heart cannot pump enough blood fast enough out of the heart. Fluid may back up in the patient's feet, abdomen, and legs when they have right-sided heart failure because the heart cannot pump enough blood fast enough into the lungs. Systolic heart failure means the patient's heart is unable to contract vigorously and has a pumping malfunction. Diastolic heart failure means an individual's left ventricle cannot relax entirely and has a filling malfunction.

4. Structural Heart Disease

Structural heart disease happens when an individual is born with an abnormality in the function or structure of their heart or when wear and tear have altered the heart's structure or function. Aortic valve stenosis occurs when the valve that allows blood to flow from the heart into the aorta becomes stiff and cannot open fully. An atrial septal defect is a structural heart disease where there is a hole that allows blood to flow back and forth between the atria in the heart. Heart valve disease occurs when blood cannot flow through the heart properly because one or more valves are damaged. Mitral valve regurgitation is a structural heart disease that allows blood flow back into the heart because of an abnormal mitral valve. When the left ventricle muscle wall becomes too thick, it is referred to as left ventricular hypertrophy. Cardiomyopathy is a structural heart disease where the heart muscle has become enlarged and stiff. Marfan's syndrome causes problems with a patient's mitral valve or an aortic aneurysm.