Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) in the United States accounts for the highest portion of heart disease, which can lead to a heart attack. It can occur when plaque, or cholesterol deposits in the blood, accumulate in the arteries and lead to blockages in the area, which accounts for atherosclerosis, or narrowing of the blood vessels. When these blood vessels start to close, the volume of blood that reaches the heart decreases at an increasing rate. With time, this leads to a weakened heart muscle that leaves the organ unable to provide the body with sufficient blood, and can manifest in several ways, including as angina (chest pain) or arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat). More life-threatening symptoms can include a heart attack or stroke, when the …show more content…
One of the greatest recognitions was that many acute cases of heart attacks results from vulnerable plaques that already exist in the arteries, which can be broken down and cause blockages of the vessels in which they reside. In addition, because behaviors such as smoking can increase the risk of this plaque rupture significantly, many physicians will recommend that their patients do not smoke, which will decrease their risk of developing heart disease. In addition, lowering blood pressure will lower the chances that one develops CVD, so some preventative drugs may be used to preemptively lower an individual’s blood pressure, which will allow them to be more protected against potential cardiovascular disease symptoms …show more content…
While the amount of each dose differs by patient, the average is about 75mg per day. Aspirin therapy can also be used for people who are recovering from a previous heart attack or stroke, and has been shown to be effective in those cases except for those who have serious allergic reactions or a history of bleeding. The treatment works because aspirin interferes with the blood’s ability to clot, inactivating platelets and reducing their functionality. Because atherosclerosis can be caused by a thickening of the blood, reducing platelet functionality in this way can be very useful in preventing further health problems. A potential danger of this prevention treatment is that the patient is at higher risk for higher levels of damage due to external or internal bleeding, seeing as their blood is less able to clot and stop blood flow from an injury. However, this therapy has been used in several studies and has proven to reduce a patient’s risk of heart attack or stroke resulting from cardiovascular disease
Coronary artery disease is a heart disease characterized by narrow arteries and restricted blood flow in arteries and is the major cause of morbidity and mortality globally.[1] According to WHO estimation, 6.8% in men and 5.3% in women are affected globally.[2-4] Cardiovascular disease account for 29% of all deaths in Canada; of all the cardiovascular death, 54% and 23% was due to ischemic heart disease and heart attack, respectively. The total costs for heart disease and stroke were more than $20.9 billion every year. [5,6] With more than 1 artery impacted, multivessel coronary artery disease is more complex and more likely accompanied by other comorbidities including diabetes or high blood pressure; multivessel coronary artery disease usually is more difficult to deal with, has worse prognosis and cost more compared with single coronary artery disease. [7]
Cardiomyopathy, by definition, means the weakening of the heart muscle. The heart is operated by a striated muscle that relies on the autonomic nervous system to function. Cardiomyopathy is diagnosed in four different ways based on what caused the illness and exactly what part of the heart is weakened. The four main types of cardiomyopathy are dilated cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, restrictive cardiomyopathy, and arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia. One other category of cardiomyopathy that is diagnosed is “unclassified cardiomyopathy.” Unclassified cardiomyopathy is the weakening of the heart that does not fit into the main four categories.
Although atherosclerosis affects millions of people around the world, there are many ways to prevent and treat it once it has developed. Simple life style changes can greatly reduce the inflammation and damage to the endothelial wall of the artery. It is very important that people who have high blood pressure or diabetes get regular checkups; if atherosclerosis goes untreated, the adverse effects, such as stroke or myocardial infarction can be deadly.
...spirin it can increase the chance of experiencing side effects. By using aspirin correctly it gives you the best chance of getting the greatest benefits the medication has to offer []. This will also give a lesser chance of getting unwanted side effects. The directions on the bottle may not be best suitable and it is important to follow a doctor’s recommendation for usage.
Cardiovascular Disease is defined by the American Heart Association as “Heart and blood vessel disease”. Atherosclerosis of the arteries, can lead to hypertension, heart failure, arrhythmias, heart valve problems, myocardial infarctions or a stroke (AHA, 2016). In this paper, all of heart and vessel diseases aforementioned, will be considered cardiovascular disease (CVD). According to
Since 1960 the age-adjusted mortality rates for cardiovascular disease (CVD) has declined steadily in the U.S. due to multiple factors, but still remains one of the primary causes of morbidity and premature mortality worldwide. Greater control of risk factors and improved treatments for cardiovascular disease has significantly contributed to this decline (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). In the U.S. alone it claims approximately 830,000 each year and accounts for 1/6 of all deaths under the age of 65 (Weiss and Lonnquist, 2011). Based on the 2007 mortality rate data an average of 1 death every 37 seconds is due to cardiovascular disease (Lloyd-Jones et al., 2009). Controlling and reducing risk factors is crucial for saving lives. There are a number of contributing risk factors for cardiovascular disease, which may appear in the form of hereditary, behavioral, and psychological, all of which ultimately converge in social or cultural factors.
Today, cardiovascular disease is “the number one killer in the United States and the developed world” (Sapolsky, 2004, p. 41). Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the most common form of cardiovascular disease, and is responsible for claiming an unreasonable amount of lives every year. CHD can begin to accumulate in young adults, but is prominently found in both men and women in their later adult lives. As a result of CHD, men typically experience heart attacks, whereas women present with chest pains, known as angina (Matthews, 2005).
...smoking, high cholesterol diet, age, gender, sedentary lifestyle, contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy. Nurses can fill significant treatment gaps in the risk factor management of patient with coronary heart disease. “Cardiac rehabilitation programs including nursing education exert a beneficial effect on patients’ quality of life, exercise capacity, lipid profile, body mass index, body weight, blood pressure, resting heart rate, survival rate, mortality rate and decreased myocardial infarction risk factors.” ( Health Science Journal, 2012). Healthcare professionals should discuss with the patients therapeutic lifestyle changes, emphasizing the role of diet in heart disease. Nurses should provide information and teaching about medications to lower cholesterol levels and also discuss the relationship between diabetes, hypertension and CAD.
One of the leading causes of death in the United States is heart disease. “Approximately every 29 seconds one American will have a heart attack, and once a minute one American will die from a heart attack” (Ford-Martin and Odle, 915). According to the Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine men over the age of 45 and women over the age of 55 are considered at risk for heart disease. Heart disease is a major cause of death. It is beneficial to individuals who seek to prevent heart disease to recognize the risks leading to heart attacks as they are one of the primary indications of developing heart disease; especially those that fall into the at risk age groups. These risks consist of some that cannot be changed such as heredity risks, or those that can change such as smoking habits. It is very important to know these specific risks for prevention and to understand the symptoms of heart attacks, such as sweating or the feeling of weakness so if these or other symptoms occur people are aware. Finally heart disease treatment is of vital importance if you experience a heart attack so you can learn how to prevent another one from occurring.
What is coronary heart disease (CHD)? It is a disease when plaque gets built up in the coronary arteries; and the job of the arteries are to provide rich-oxygenated blood to the heart muscle. Built plaque in the arteries leads to atherosclerosis and the plaque that is built can result from over the years. Throughout the years, the plaque tends to get hard or can rupture. If hardened, the arteries are now narrow and have weakened the flow of blood that travels to the heart. Blood clots can form from the plaque rupturing which can cause a great chance for the blood flow to be mostly blocked or blocked altogether. There are other names for coronary heart disease such as coronary artery disease, atherosclerosis, ischemic heart disease, etc.
“If you’re at high risk for ischemic stroke, your doctor may prescribe drugs that reduce clots by interfering with the aggregation (clumping together) of blood cells called platelets” (Prevention of a Stroke 4). Your doctor would prescribe a specific type of medication called antiplatelet drugs. Anticoagulants (blood thinners), like antiplatelets, interfere with the formation of blood clots, but they work at a different stage in the clotting process- preventing the formation of fibrin, a protein that plays a role in blood clotting. “Statin medications lower blood cholesterol levels by blocking the activity of an enzyme crucial for the production of cholesterol by the liver. These medications also help stabilize plaques- the fatty deposits in arteries that can rupture and trigger the formation of a blood clot that can lead to a stroke” (Prevention of a Stroke 18). Statins are used to lower blood cholesterol levels and reduce inflammation in the artery walls. The medications your physician prescribes will depend on how great your risk of a stroke is as well as your risk of side effects from these
Oxygen was first admitted to the client with chest pain over 100 years ago (Metcalfe, 2011). Chest pain is a large bracket that can contain many different conditions, but for the purpose of this analysis it is focused manly upon a myocardial infarction. A myocardial infarction is mainly referred to as a heart attack, and occurs when one or more coronary arteries leading to the heart reduce or completely stop blood flow (Tuipulotu, 2013 ). Administering high concentrations of oxygen to patients with chest pain is now embedded in guidelines, protocols and care pathways, even with a lack of clear supporting evidence (Nicholson, 2004 ). High concentration of oxygen means that up to 60% is administered (Knott, 2012). More recent research has suggested that the use of oxygen in this scenario is unnecessary and can lead to unwanted side effects, especially in normoxic cardiac patients (Moradkham & Sinoway, 2010 ). The aim of this comparative analysis is to dismantle and understand both the benefits and risks of the commonly known practice of administration of oxygen to the client with chest pain. Through completing this analysis using recent and appropriate evidence a more improved practice can be given and understood.
Heart disease describes a range of conditions that affect your heart. Diseases under the heart disease umbrella include blood vessel diseases, heart rhythm problems, and heart defects. The major cause of this is a build-up of fatty plaques in the arteries. Plaque build-up thickens and stiffens the vessel walls, which can inhibit blood flow through the arteries to organs and tissues.