Heart Disease

810 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Coronary heart disease essay and prevention

It is the time of progress. The time of supercomputers, space shuttles, and many other wonders of technology. We have walked on the moon. We do our shopping at home via Internet navigation.

We can not only talk with, but we can see the person we are talking to thousands of miles away. It is mankind's greatest hour. Yet sadly, it is also our time of dying. Strange that no matter how advanced our society has become, our nation's health hasn't caught up. After all, heart disease, also known as cardiovascular disease, is our nation's number one killer (Preventive Magazine Health Books p. 153).

The most common, and most preventable, heart disease of all is coronary artery disease. This is caused when blockages develop in the blood vessels that provide oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle. A more general term for any impairment of blood flow through the blood vessels is arteriosclerosis (Hale p.371). One of the most common symptoms is chest pain. When your heart muscle is not getting enough oxygen, it sends out a painful warning signal called angina pectoris(Hale p.372).

Because your heart needs oxygen the most when it is working the hardest, angina is most likely to occur during exercise. And if the heart muscle is deprived of oxygen for long enough, it will die, resulting in a heart attack, or myocardial (heart muscle) infarction (tissue death) (Weisse p. 54). As you can see, preventing this disease should be a number one priority.The prevention of heart disease should begin in childhood and continue throughout life. But it is never too late to start; people of all ages can benefit greatly from diet, exercise, smoking cessation, and stress control to prevent heart disease. We should try to control our risk factors, such as cholesterol, high blood-pressure, stress control, smoking habits, lack of exercise, and dietary problems, or more specifically, obesity.

There is no one way, or miracle cure, to control these factors, but common sense, as well as modern medicine, tells us how. Simply stop smoking, eat foods lower in cholesterol, lower your blood pressure with a healthy diet and a lower salt intake (this will also control obesity), and use daily exercise routines to help prevent disease.However, as easy as it is to prevent disease using these simple techniques, it is also recommended to visit a doctor regularly to detect disease early in its preclinic...

... middle of paper ...

.../fs-bin/show?id=pcZ8g7DjAzA&bids=6424&type=2&subid=0" >, Consumers Union of United States Inc., Yonkers, NY, 1991.Hales, Diana, An Invitation to Health, 7th Edition, Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, Pacific Grove, CA, 1997.Donahue, Peggy Jo, <a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=pcZ8g7DjAzA&offerid=6424&type=2&subid=0&url=http%253A//search.borders.com/fcgi-bin/db2www/search/search.d2w/Details%253F%2526mediaType%253DBook%2526prodID%253D3813811" >How to Prevent a Stroke<IMG border=0 alt=icon width=1 height=1 src="http://ad.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/show?id=pcZ8g7DjAzA&bids=6424&type=2&subid=0" >, Rodale Press Inc, Emmaus PA, 1989. Lefton, Lester A., <a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=pcZ8g7DjAzA&offerid=6424&type=2&subid=0&url=http%253A//search.borders.com/fcgi-bin/db2www/search/search.d2w/Details%253F%2526mediaType%253DBook%2526prodID%253D2436893" >Psychology<IMG border=0 alt=icon width=1 height=1 src="http://ad.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/show?id=pcZ8g7DjAzA&bids=6424&type=2&subid=0" >, Allyn & Bacon, Maryland 1997.

Show More
Related

  • case study-andrews family

    852 Words  | 2 Pages

    Thompson, P. D., Buchner, D., Pina, I. L., Balady, G. J., Williams, M. A., Marcus, B. H., ... Wenger, N. K. (2003). Exercise in the prevention and treatment of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease: a statement from the Council on Clinical Cardiology. Journal of the American Heart Association, 3110-3116. http://dx.doi.org/doi: 10.1161/01.CIR.0000075572.40158.77

    Read More

  • The Framingham Heart Case Study

    817 Words  | 2 Pages

    Heart disease is one of the most common causes of the mortality and morbidity in most well developed countries. They come in different forms such as stroke and other cardiovascular diseases and it’s the number one cause of death in the state of America. In the year 2011 alone nearly 787,000 people were killed as a result of this epidemic. And this included Hispanic, Africans, whites and Americans. As for the Asian Americans or pacific Islanders, American Indians and the natives of Alaska, the concept to them was a second only to cancer. However, statistics has proved that a person gets heart attack every 34 seconds and in every 60 seconds, someone dies out of it which include other related event. Additionally, majority of the women are the

    Read More

  • Overview of The Cardiovascular System

    1664 Words  | 4 Pages

    Why do we need to exercise? With out exercise many of our bodies arteries in the cardiovascular system can become clogged and bring on much unwanted cardiovascular diseases. Exercising regularly helps us maintain a healthy weight if already fi...

    Read More

  • Physiology Of Coronary Heart Disease

    1212 Words  | 3 Pages

    Coronary heart disease is defined by the hardening of the epicardial coronary arteries. The buildup of plaque in the arteries slowly narrows the coronary artery lumen. In order to better understand the physiology of the disease, it is important to first know the basic anatomy of the human heart. The aorta, located in the superior region of the heart, branches off into two main coronary blood vessels, otherwise known as arteries. The arteries are located on the left and right side of the heart and span its surface. They subsequently branch off into smaller arteries which supply oxygen-rich blood to the entire heart (Texas Heart Institute, 2013). Therefore, the narrowing of these arteries due to plaque buildup significantly impairs blood flow throughout the heart.

    Read More

  • Underlying Risks for Cardiovascular Disease

    1649 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Periodontal Disease And Cardiovascular Disease

    1750 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Leading Causes of Death in The United States

    2023 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Heart Disease in the United States

    726 Words  | 2 Pages

    Symptoms to heart disease can include chest pain, shortness of breath, pain, numbness, weakness or coldness in your legs or arms, if the blood vessels in those areas are narrow. There are many causes of heart disease. You can just be born with heart defects, or naturally cause them yourself by smoking, excessive use of alcohol, also having high blood pressure, diabetes. Abusing drugs can also cause heart disease too. Stress is a cause of heart disease. Even over the counter medications can cause a heart problem. There is a good amount of test that is used to diagnose heart disease. Blood test, chest x-rays, tilt table test which is use to help find fainting spells, stress test which evolves an evaluation of the hearts response during moderate exercise while a 12-lead ECG is performed, electrocardiograms, heart MRI, holter monitoring is where the heart is recorded while the patient is ambulatory for at least a 24-hour period, echocardiogram, cardiac catheterization, heart biopsy which is where the doctor removes a part of the heart tissue, cardiac computerized tomography (CT) scan helps to visualize the hearts anatomy, and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging are all test that is use to see if someone has a form of heart disease. There are treatments to help prevent heart disease. Depending on how bad the form ...

    Read More

  • The Heart Of Heart Disease

    1785 Words  | 4 Pages

    Just as breast cancer is killing our African American women, heart disease is also one of the major diseases killing our women. Heart disease is one of the nation’s leading causes of death in both woman and men. About 600,000 people die of heart disease in the United States (Americas heart disease burden, 2013). Some facts about heart disease are every year about 935,000 Americans have a heart attack. Of these, 610,000 are a first heart attack victim. 325,000 happen in people who have already had a heart attack. Also coronary heart disease alone costs the United States $108.9 billion each year. This total includes the cost of health care services, medications, and loss of productivity. Deaths of heart disease in the United States back in 2008 killed about 24.5% of African Americans.

    Read More

  • Essay On How To Prevent Heart Disease

    464 Words  | 1 Pages

    Reduce saturated fat in your diet. Saturated fat raises your cholesterol. Try eating low fat and lean products and using less oils when cooking. Eat meats without skin and give up drinking soda.

    Read More

  • Coronary Heart Disease Essay

    903 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Essay On Heart Disease

    1276 Words  | 3 Pages

    Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. (social inequality, 2009). Heart disease is a structural or functional abnormality of the heart, or the blood vessel supplying the heart, that impairs its functioning. (free dictionary). Heart disease is also known as cardiovascular disease. Since there are many conditions related with heart disease. The most common types are coronary artery disease or damage in the heart’s major blood vessels, stroke or damage to the brain from interruption of its blood supply, and high blood pressure or a condition in which the force of the blood against the artery walls in too high. These conditions may lead to a heart attack. (mayo).

    Read More

  • Cardiovascular Disease Essay

    1424 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a group of disorders or diseases that involves the heart and blood vessels, or both. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death amongst individuals living the United States. Some diseases associated with CVD consist of: coronary artery disease, congenital heart disease and pulmonary embolism (U.S. National Library of Medicine).

    Read More

  • Diseases

    1330 Words  | 3 Pages

    cold, and come on suddenly and last for no more than a few weeks. Other

    Read More

  • How to Achieve Wellness in Your Life

    702 Words  | 2 Pages

    Access to Health: Kindle Edition Text Chapter 15: Preventing Cardiovascular Disease Text Chapter 16: Reducing Your Cancer Risk Presentation: Preventing Cardiovascular Disease Presentation: Minimizing Your Risk for Diabetes http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/109/25/3244.

    Read More

More about Heart Disease

Open Document