What is cholesterol? Cholesterol is a chemical compound that is naturally produced by the body and is a combination of lipid (fat) and steroid. Cholesterol is a building block for cell membranes and for hormones like estrogen and testosterone. About 80% of ...

Heart Disease and Aortic Aneurysm Aortic Aneurysm Diseases An aneurysm is an abnormal bulge in the wall of an artery. Normally, the ...

Heart Disease and Marfan Syndrome Surgery and Marfan Syndrome Marfan syndrome is an inherited disease that affects the connective tissue. ...

What is it? Heart Muscle Disease Cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart muscle. The walls of the heart become rigid, and ...

What is an arrhythmia? An arrhythmia (also called dysrhythmia) is an irregular or abnormal heartbeat. What are the types of arrhythmias? * Tachycardia: A fast heart rhythm with a rate of more than 100 beats per minute. * Bradycardia: A slow heart rhythm with a rate below 60 ...

What is coronary artery disease? Coronary artery disease (CAD) is atherosclerosis (plaque in artery walls) of the inner lining of the blood vessels that supply blood to the heart. A similar term, arteriosclerosis which means hardening or stiffening of the arteries is sometimes interchanged with ...

Definition: Coronary artery disease develops when your coronary arteries — the major blood vessels that supply your heart with blood, oxygen and nutrients — become damaged or diseased. Cholesterol-containing deposits (plaques) on your arteries are usually to blame for coronary artery disease....

Anemia (uh-NEE-me-uh) is a condition in which your blood has a lower than normal number of red blood cells. Anemia also can occur if your red blood cells don't contain enough hemoglobin (HEE-muh-glow-bin). Hemoglobin is an iron-rich protein that gives blood its red color. This protein helps red ...

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a gram-positive, catalase-negative cocci that has remained an extremely important human bacterial pathogen since its initial recognition in the late 1800s. The term pneumococcus gained widespread use by the late 1880s, when it was recognized as the most common cause of bacterial lobar pneumonia....