Introduction
Heart
disease is one of the leading cause of death all over the world. At
birth, we get a healthy heart, it is our environment and our diet that
causes the cardiovascular problems. To understand the causes of heart
trouble, we must know something about the heart and the circulatory
system. The primary function of this cardiovascular system (heart and
blood vessels) is to distribute blood through the entire body, carrying
a steady flow of nourishment and oxygen to billions of body cells
(Bragg,
2001). Heart diseases
is atypical functioning of heart. Cardiovascular diseases are one of the
most common and preventable heart disease. The most common symptoms of
heart disease are new or worsening chest pain. Located in the thoracic
cavity, the heart is a four-chambered muscular organ that serves as the
primary pump or driving force within the circulatory system. The heart
contains a special form of muscle, appropriately named cardiac muscle,
that has intrinsic contractility (i.e., is able to beat on its own,
without nervous system control).
(Brenda
Wilmoth Lerner, 2004).
A healthy heart is very important for living a happy and healthy life.
Moreover, our diet also affects our heart health. Recent research has
extended the earlier findings on activity or fitness and heart disease
to a wide variety of health outcomes. We now know that regular physical
activity of 150 minutes/week of moderate intensity physical activity
reduces the risk of numerous chronic diseases, preserves health and
function (both physical and mental) into old age, and extends longevity
(Blair,
2009). There are
varying reasons behind the poor heart health. The reasons can be poor
lifestyle, lack of proper nutrition, diabetes, overweight and obesity.
High blood pressure could also result in heart diseases. Nowadays, most
of the children get cardiovascular diseases from heredity. There are
different kinds of cardiovascular diseases such as congenital heart
disease, heart attack, heart failure, strokes. In, the United States,
someone has a heart attack every 40 seconds. Every year, about 805,000
Americans have a heart attack.3 Of these, 605,000 are a first heart
attack. 3,200,000 happen to people who have already had a heart attack.
About 1 in 5 heart attacks is silent—the damage is done, but the person
is not aware of it.
(Centres
for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d.).