It seems like every time you turn around there is another mention of heart disease or heart disease victims. In fact almost everyone knows someone who has heart disease. There are a couple of reasons for this, and one them is definitely related to the amount of exercise people today get, as well as their diet, but one the main reason heart disease seems to be everywhere is because it is such a broad term. Heart disease is pretty much any disease or problem related to the heart. The problems will range in severity, but it is all considered heart disease. Because of this heart disease causes aren't always easy to pinpoint.

Because the term is such a blanketing one, covering everything from heart attacks to heart tumors it is hard to say what the heart disease causes are. And, different factors will have different results in different people. The human body is so complex and individualized that it is impossible to say with certainty what will trigger different things. There are a few things that will raise your risk for getting heart disease however, and these problems are as close to heart disease causes as we'll ever get.

The biggest causes of heart disease that we can monitor, is blood pressure. Having high blood pressure, or hypertension, can certainly lead to a straining of your heart. Like any muscle, once it is strained it is more susceptible to diseases and failure. For someone to have hypertension their top number, or systolic pressure, would have to consistently over 140 and/or their lower number, or diastolic pressure, would regularly have to be above 90. If one or both of these numbers are high on a regular basis, you would be considered having hypertension and at a higher risk of heart disease.

The next question of course would be, ?What causes hypertension?? Many times people are just prone to having higher blood pressure, it's something that runs in their family and not something they necessarily do. In other cases it can be related to the amount of water and salt you take in. High salt intake could possibly lead to hypertension, or low water intake. Other factors would have to do with the condition of your kidney, blood vessel and nervous system, other things you can't really control.

Outside of hypertension, abnormalities of your heart are often heart disease causes. These could include abnormal heart beat or abnormal heart valve function. These two problems are often something that is, again, out of your control. It simply becomes something that you need to learn to live with and monitor. These problems will hopefully be caught by a doctor when you are young, as well, giving you the best opportunity to catch the potential heart disease causes early before they become heart disease.

Really, any other condition that weakens your heart falls into heart disease causes. Anything that causes your heart to work at a rate that is too high for too long, could cause it to ?break down.? This means keeping your heart strong through exercise and healthy eating is a key component in avoiding heart disease and hypertension.