MEDICAL DEFINITIONS...
Calcium
channel blocker — A drug that prevents calcium from entering the heart's
muscle cells. This causes the muscles to relax, lowering the heart rate.
Cardiac rehabilitation — A supervised program of increasing exercise,
mental support and training to allow a person with a heart condition to resume
normal activities.
Cardiologist — A doctor who diagnoses
and treats heart problems.
Cardiomyopathy — Any weakening
or deformity of the heart muscle that causes decreased pumping force. This leads
to less-efficient circulation of blood through the lungs and the rest of the body.
Cardiomyoplasty — An investigational surgical
treatment for heart failure that involves taking muscles from the person's back
or abdomen and wrapping them around the heart. Its goal is to increase the heart's
pumping power.
Caregiver — Anyone who helps a chronically
ill patient cope with an illness. Caregivers can be home healthcare workers, family
members or friends. They assist in many ways, from making sure patients take their
medications properly to helping out with day-to-day activities.
Chronic
illness — An illness or condition that develops slowly and persists for
a long time. Heart failure is almost always a chronic illness.
Congenital
heart disease — Any heart condition or abnormality that a person was
born with.
Congestive heart failure — A common form
of heart failure that results in a patient retaining excessive fluid, often leading
to swelling of the legs and ankles and congestion in the lungs.
Coronary
artery bypass — A procedure used to reroute the blood supply around a
blocked section of a coronary artery. Surgeons remove healthy blood vessels from
another part of the body, such as a leg or the chest wall. Then they surgically
attach the vessels to the diseased artery to let the blood flow around the blocked
section.
Coronary artery disease — A condition caused by
thickening of the walls of the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle.
When these arteries become blocked, the heart is deprived of oxygen and can become
damaged. Severe cases can result in heart attack.
Defibrillator — A device that delivers pacing or an electric countershock to the heart
when an abnormal rhythm is detected. A surgically implantable version is called
a pacemaker.
Diabetes — A condition in which the body doesn't
produce the right amount of insulin, the hormone that allows cells to absorb glucose
(sugar) from the bloodstream. Some people with diabetes must inject themselves
with insulin every day to maintain a healthy glucose level. Others are able to
control the condition with pills or a special diet.
Diastolic pressure —
The pressure of blood inside arteries when the heart is at rest. This is the bottom
number in a blood pressure reading.
Digoxin (or digitalis) —
A medication that increases the force of the heart's contractions and slows certain
types of irregular heartbeats (arrhythmia).
Diuretic — A
medication that promotes the formation and release of urine. It helps to reduce
fluid overload in people with heart failure. Also called a water pill.
Drug interaction — A change in the effect of a drug when taken with
a certain other drug or food. Its effect may increase or decrease, or a side
effect may occur.
Dyspnea — Difficult or labored breathing,
often caused by heart conditions.
Dysrhythmia — A disturbance
in heart rhythm, sometimes used as an alternative to the term "arrhythmia."
Additional
Medical Definitions 1 | Additional
Medical Definitions 3
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