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The body’s muscles and nervous system help control your breathing. The lungs are like sponges; they cannot move on their own. Muscles in your chest and abdomen contract, or tighten, to create space in your lungs for air to flow in. The muscles then relax, causing the space in the chest to get smaller and squeeze the air back out. Your breathing usually does not require any thought, because it is controlled by the autonomic nervous system, also called the involuntary nervous system.

The first step toward heart health is understanding your risk of heart disease. Your risk depends on many factors, some of which are changeable and others that are not. Risk factors are conditions or habits that make a person more likely to develop a disease. These risk factors may be different for each person.

Pneumonia can be very serious and even life-threatening. Vaccines can help prevent some types of pneumonia. Good hygiene (washing your hands often), quitting smoking, and keeping your immune system strong by getting regular physical activity and eating healthy are other ways to lower your risk of getting pneumonia.

The types of angina are stable, unstable, microvascular, and variant. The types vary based on their severity or cause.

Todas las personas mayores de 3 años deben visitar un profesional de la salud para medirse la presión arterial al menos una vez al año. El médico le tomara la presión arterial para ver si las lecturas de la presión arterial son constantemente altas. El médico le hablará sobre cambios en el estilo de vida para un corazón saludable para ayudarle a controlar la presión arterial o evitar la presión arterial alta.

Atherosclerosis is a disease in which plaque builds up inside your arteries. Arteries are blood vessels that carry oxygen-rich blood to your heart and other parts of your body.

Genetic testing may be performed to look for carriers, as well as to screen relatives of people who have cystic fibrosis.

Ventricular fibrillation, a type of arrhythmia, causes most sudden cardiac arrests. Other problems with the heart's electrical system, including diseases or conditions that can cause the electrical problems—such as coronary heart disease, physical stress, certain inherited disorders, and structural changes in the heart—also can lead to sudden cardiac arrest.

Having a stent placed is a minimally invasive procedure, meaning it is not a major surgery. Stents for coronary arteries and carotid arteries are placed in similar ways. A stent graft is placed to treat an aneurysm in a procedure called aortic aneurysm repair. Airway stents are placed in a procedure that helps open airways in the lung. For most stents, you will be given medicine to make you sleep during the procedure. The stent procedure may be planned ahead of time or it may be performed in an emergency situation.

Your doctor will diagnose peripheral artery disease based on your medical and family histories, a physical exam, and results from one or more tests: ankle-brachial index, Doppler ultrasound, treadmill test, magnetic resonance angiogram (MRA), arteriogram, and blood tests.