Microvascular disease is inherited in some cases as certain genetic mutations can also predispose some people to developing microvascular disease, that affects your small blood vessels in your brain, heart and other organs of the body.
The mutations can also be passed down through families, and increase the risk of subsequent generations developing microvascular disease.
Microvascular disease is not heart failure, although microvascular disease is a significant contributor and common cause of heart failure, especially in the heart failure with preserved ejection fraction or "HFpEF" type of heart failure.
Although microvascular disease involves the small blood vessels of your heart, which then become impaired and don't function as they should, which reduces blood flow and oxygen to your heart muscle.
And when the blood vessels are damaged, it can result in chronic chest pain and increase your risk of having a heart attack and ultimately progress to heart failure.
Microvascular disease is progressive and chronic which can get worse over time, especially if any of the underlying conditions and risk factors are not managed or treated.
Microvascular disease affects your body's small blood vessels and potentially can result in tissue damage and even organ failure, which can also manifest as conditions such as increased stroke risk, heart failure and cognitive decline.
Early changes with microvascular disease can sometimes be reversible, but as microvascular disease progresses it can result in structural changes and health issues that can be irreversible and sometimes microvascular disease can progress silently.
Exercise can help microvascular disease as exercise helps to improve microvascular function by promoting blood flow and delivering the needed oxygen and nutrients as well as removing waste products and regulating inflammation as well as oxidative stress.
Physical activity and regular exercise helps counteract microvascular remodeling and also counteract the development of small vessel disease, which improves the structure and function of the tiny blood vessels.
Exercise can also initially cause the symptoms like chest pain in some people, but exercise is still crucial in managing microvascular disease and preventing further damage from microvascular disease.
Microvascular disease can feel like a heavy, tight or squeezing chest pain called angina, which can last a long time even when resting.
Microvascular disease can also cause shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness and unexplained fatigue.
The pain with microvascular disease can also radiate to your arms, your jaw, neck or back.
And symptoms of microvascular disease can be frustrating as they are not often caused by blockages in the large arteries, which make the standard tests ineffective.
A microvascular disease is a condition which affects your small blood vessels throughout your body.
The small blood vessels that microvascular disease affects are called microvasculature.
The microvasculature small blood vessels are crucial for delivering the needed oxygen and nutrients to the tissues and for also removing waste products.
The different types of microvascular disease are coronary microvascular disease, cerebrovascular microvascular disease and peripheral microvascular disease.
Peripheral microvascular disease, affects the small blood vessels in your legs, arms and feet and results in pain, swelling and even ulcers.
Cerebrovascular microvascular disease affects the small blood vessels in your brain, causing stroke, cognitive decline and dementia.
And coronary microvascular disease affects the small blood vessels in your heart, which leads to chest pain, shortness of breath and fatigue.
Microvascular disease can be caused by several things which include inflammation, obesity, smoking, high cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure.
Symptoms of microvascular disease include chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, cognitive decline, leg pain and swelling and even foot ulcers.
Diagnoses of microvascular disease can be difficult because symptoms of microvascular disease can be nonspecific.
Tests like blood tests, blood pressure monitoring and even imaging can help diagnose microvascular disease.