Life with Heart Failure What is the first disease that you think of when asked? Of all the diseases that could be mentioned Heart Failure, HF, is one that many have heard of or that has affected a loved one. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “heart failure affects nearly 5.1 million Americans of all ages and is responsible for more hospitalizations than all forms of cancer combined. It is the number 1 cause of hospitalization for Medicare patients and this process can begin early in adulthood from poor diets and smoking habits.” HF may go undetected by the client months after the disease starts, which leaves little options for treatment when symptoms are prevalent. As with any disease process early teaching from a healthcare professional could make the difference between an active lifestyle to one that is hindered by several health complications.
The patient may begin to feel like they have become the main focus of their family and friends lives. This can pressure the patient into thinking the best solution is to surrender and just die, even if that is not what they want. The patient can easily become delusional with this type of thinking. However, little does the patient know, their family and friends want to be the... ... middle of paper ... ...too much pressure on themselves in order to relieve their family and friends of the anxiety attributed with having to take care of a terminally ill person. Not to mention the pressure that physicians and insurance companies will put on the patient, in order to save money and keep premiums low.
Coronary heart disease kills thousands of Americans every year and is mostly preventable. 1.5 million Americans have heart attacks each year. (Kaplan, Sal1lis, Patterson, 1993) There are many risk factors for coronary heart disease including being overweight, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels in the blood, genetic history of the disease, a high fat diet, a high stress lifestyle, and smoking. The main cause of coronary heart disease is a buildup of plaque in the artery walls called atherosclerosis. Once the buildup causes an obstruction in the artery where the blood cant flow normally, the patient has a myocardial infarction, commonly referred to as a heart attack.
Life with A Diseased Heart A life with a healthy heart is something that is beyond wonderful. Unfortunately, many people of the world cannot embrace this feeling. Individuals all over the world deal with heart disease. 15 million and counting, heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death in the U.S. What is heart disease exactly? Heart disease is a disorder blood vessels within the heart.
The last additional fact I learned was that every year in the United States about 200,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer, and more than 159,000 die from this disease. Lung cancer is the most common type of cancer in the world. Although, it is a challenging cancer to treat more ways and treatments are being presented and studied daily. Lung cancer is a deadly disease that presents many problems in a person’s life. There are ways to decrease your chance of developing cancer, but there are too many environmental factors that play a role in cancer to be sure you can positively prevent it.
“The majority of people contemplating suicide don't really want to die. They are seeking an end to intense mental and/or physical pain. Most have a treatable mental illness. Interventions can save lives.” (“States News Service”) Suicide is a very serious condition that affects the lives of not only the individual who commits suicide, but it affects all the people who are involved with that individual. When we can separate the facts from the myths about suicide, we could possibly prevent a suicide and save someone’s life.
That statement is constantly being debated. Some research shows that older women are susceptible to heart disease (“Heart Disease in women”). Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death not only in America but in the world (“Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Control”). It is responsible for 30% of deaths globally and 800,000 ... ... middle of paper ... ...t Disease and Stroke Prevention”). The United States is working to find a cure.
You need to think about what is best for the patient and if they are terminal; prolonging their life is not the best thing. It is important to prepare for our own death and make our wishes known. A living will is one way of doing that. A living will is a document explains to your doctor what types of treatment you want if you become terminally ill. A living will only works when you are terminal, it does not come into effect if you are in an accident and need emergency treatment. Some people may feel that a living will is not for them, when in fact everyone should have a living will.
(Allen.M, 2013) Throughout the United States there are many issues the he... ... middle of paper ... ...ue to numerous medical errors. With the amount of medical errors that currently do occur which is a current health care issue it cost the health care billions of dollar each year to fix the mistakes that were made. Reference Allen.M, (2013). How Many Die From Medical Mistakes in U.S. Hospitals?
And since the nearly 30,000 homicides annually in the United States affect between 120,000 and 240,000 relatives and other survivors, the magnitude of these numbers suggests that homicidal bereavement represents a major public health problem. Specialized treatment is needed for the families and others that were affected by the homicide to help lessen the long term psychological effects. California offers a victim/ witness program that provides help. However, the program lacks effectiveness due to the lack of funding and often goes unused. The National Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) have established programs to provide programs to model for states to follow (Saindon).