The human heart is responsible for supplying blood to organs in the body. Arteries and veins branch out from the heart to transmit blood, oxygen and nutrients that help with bodily functions. However, genetic and environmental factors can cause inconsistencies in the heart’s functioning, leading to several heart diseases. Read on to know more about the types of cardiovascular diseases.

Types of Heart Diseases

Depending on the area of the heart damaged, heart diseases are classified as under:

• Coronary artery disease

  Coronary arteries supply blood to the heart muscles. Coronary artery disease occurs when the arteries get clogged with fatty substances and cannot supply blood, oxygen, and other nutrients to the heart. This condition typically causes heart attacks.

• Congenital heart disease

  Congenital heart diseases are various diseases of the heart occurring at birth. Infants with congenital diseases suffer from heart conditions like holes in the heart and closed or missing valves.

• Arrhythmia

  Arrhythmia means irregular heartbeats. This condition is caused when electrical signals sent by the central nervous system function poorly. The heart of arrhythmic patients can beat too fast (tachycardia) or too slow (bradycardia).

• Heart valve disease

  A human heart has four valves that direct blood flow between its four chambers, lungs, and blood vessels. When more than one valves fail to open and close properly, blood flow gets disrupted, making it a type of heart failure condition.

• Cardiomyopathy

  Cardiomyopathy is the disease of the myocardium (heart muscles). Genetic conditions, drug reactions, infections, etc., can cause the myocardium to stretch or become stiff. In such cases, the heart cannot pump blood efficiently.

• Pericardial diseases

  The pericardium is a sac wherein the heart sits. Viral infections, rheumatoid arthritis or injury during surgery can damage the pericardium, leading to pericarditis.

Common symptoms of cardiovascular diseases include chest pain (angina), difficulty breathing, fatigue and lightheadedness. Ensure you monitor your symptoms to curb potential heart attack threats.

Treatments for most heart diseases are covered by health insurance. The insurer finances most medical expenses like doctors’ fees, tests, medication, hospitalisation costs, ambulance charges, etc. In the case of coronary artery or valve diseases, the patient may need to undergo angioplasty or open–heart surgery. The costs of these surgeries are typically high but can be managed by investing in premium critical illness health insurance plans with significantly higher sums insured.

You can buy a critical illness rider plan on top of your regular health insurance for maximum coverage. However, to file claims against the treatment costs, you must complete the policy’s waiting period, which is usually between 12 to 48 months. Under a critical illness health policy, the insurer disburses the entire sum insured as a lump sum, which you can use to finance various treatment costs.

Poor diet and sedentary lifestyles are the common causes of heart diseases. Moreover, medical treatments have increased tremendously. A health insurance policy covers most of the medical expenses. While buying a health policy, you must check the insurer’s market reputation and claim settlement ratios and make informed investment decisions.