If medical advice is needed, appropriate medical professionals should be consulted. Adams-Stokes disease is a transient condition caused by a heart rhythm disorder that involves fainting, with or without convulsions. When a heart block occurs, the heart rate usually slows considerably and can result in inad equate blood flow to the brain and fainting. An aneurysm, a ballooning-out of the wall of an artery, vein, or the heart, can be due to weakening of the wall by disease, injury, or an abnormality present at birth. Atherosclerosis results in plaque that thickens and hardens the arteries.
Bacterial endocarditis is an infection of the heart valves or the lining of the heart.
Cardiomyopathy is a disease in which the heart muscle becomes inflamed and does not work as well as it should. There may be multiple causes of cariomyopathy, including viral infections. COPD can cause high blood pressure in the lungs, leading to heart disease secondary to lung disease. The heart contracts and relaxes with each heartbeat. The contraction portion of this cycle is called systole and the relaxation portion is called diastole.