Cardiovascular Disease

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The people that might find this page useful are those who wish to learn more about Cardiovascular Disease. The information that can be found on this page is what Cardiovascular Disease is, what its effects are, and how to treat and prevent it. The information that will not be found on this post is what age groups are affected, if its fatal or not, and where you can get treated. What motivated me to write about Cardiovascular Disease is that both of my grandmothers have Cardiovascular Disease.

What is Cardiovascular Disease?

Cardiovascular disease affects the lives of thousands of people every single day. sixty thousand people die because of heart disease in America every year according to the CDC. Cardiovascular disease, which is also known as “Heart disease” or “Heart and blood vessel” disease, is a term used to describe diseases that affect the heart. One type of Cardiovascular disease is called Atherosclerosis. “Atherosclerosis occurs when plaque builds up in the arteries.The buildup of plaque makes it harder for blood to flow through. If a blood clot forms, it can stop the blood flow. This can cause a heart attack or stroke.” ("What Is Cardiovascular Disease (Heart Disease)?).However Atherosclerosis is not the only kind of Cardiovascular disease some others are “coronary heart disease, heart failure sometimes called congestive heart failure which means that the heart isn't pumping blood as well as it should, valvular disease which is when valves don't open enough to let blood flow as it should, and arrhythmia which is an abnormal rhythm of the heart.”

What are the effects of cardiovascular disease?

When it come to cardiovascular disease there are many ways that it affects the person who has it. Some of the more severe effects of cardiovascular disease are high blood pressure, Stroke, Atherosclerosis, which is a hardening of the Arteries , and Coronary Artery Disease (Lyles). There is also Heart Failure, and Valvular disease (Julia). According to Risks & Warning signs, some of the less severe effects are “extreme fatigue, constant dizziness or lightheadedness, a fast heart rate ( more than 100 beats per minute), a new irregular heartbeat, chest pain or discomfort during activity that goes away during rest, difficulty breathing during regular activities and rest, a respiratory infection or cough that becomes worse, restlessness or confusion, changes in sleeping patterns, and loss of appetite or nausea.”

How do you prevent Cardiovascular Disease?

Learning how to prevent a disease is one of the most important things to learn about a disease. According to Lyles, some ways to prevent cardiovascular disease are to not smoke, be active and exercise, keep your stress levels to a minimum, maintain a healthy weight, limit your intake of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, increase the amount of omega-3 fatty acids you eat, limit the amount of sodium you eat, increase your potassium intake, eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, eat more fiber and protein. You can also control your blood pressure, and reduce your cholesterol (Risks & Warnings signs).

How do you treat Cardiovascular disease?

Knowing how to treat Cardiovascular Disease is also very important. Surgery is one way of treating Cardiovascular disease. According to Lyles, in surgery “Vessels can be opened by angioplasty or repaired by the use of graphs or stents, heart valves can be repaired or replaced with artificial valves and pacemakers.” Other ways of treating Cardiovascular disease are “Thrombi-dissolving drugs, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, coronary artery bypass surgery, and lifestyle changes” (Julia). You can also get an implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator or ablation therapy (Risks & Warning signs).

Additional Resources:

MedlinePlus Heart Diseases

CDC Prevalence of uncontrolled risk factors for Cardiovascular Disease

American Heart Association 10 myths about Cardiovascular Disease

Pictures

Coronary Angioplasty. Digital image. What Is a Coronary Angioplasty? N.p., n.d. Web. <http://blog.timpanogosregionalhospital.com/blog/2013/03/26/what-is-a-coronary-angioplasty/>.

High Blood Pressure. Digital image. Control Your Blood Pressure. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.control-your-blood-pressure.com/why_lower_blood_pressure.html>.

Highleyman, Liz. Atherosclerosis. Digital image. Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection Is Associated with Early Atherosclerosis. N.p., n.d. Web.

Work Cited

Julia D. Betensky, Richard J. Contrada, and Elaine Leventhal.     Encyclopedia of the Life Course and Human Development. Ed.Deborah Carr. Vol. 3: Later Life. Detroit:Macmillan Reference USA, 2009.p58-61.Word Count:1980.

Lyles, Teresa. "Cardiovascular Disease." Nutrition and Well-Being A to Z. Ed. Delores C.S. James. Vol. 1. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. 99-104. Gale Virtual Reference Library.Web. 30 Oct 2013.

"Risks & Warning Signs." Cardiovascular Disease Signs and Symptoms. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2013. <http://www.thedacare.org/Symptoms-and-Conditions/Cardiology/Understanding-Heart-and-Vascular-Problems/Risks-and-Warning-Signs.aspx>.

"What Is Cardiovascular Disease (Heart Disease)?" What Is Cardiovascular Disease (Heart Disease)? N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2013. <http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Caregiver/Resources/WhatisCardiovascularDisease/What-is-Cardiovascular-Disease_UCM_301852_Article.jsp >

Dear Mrs.Skotnicki and Mr.Bormann:

My name is Tina. I am a junior and I am writing this letter to introduce myself while practicing writing in the business letter format. I am someone who care for my family very much and I am determined to do my best at whatever I set out to do. I am looking forward to learning more about the other students and how their lives are the same and/or different than ours.

This summer I went to Florida for two weeks. My family and I went to Tampa and stayed at a friend’s house. We went to the beach every day and we also went to Disney. We rode on the rides and at the end there were fireworks. My favorite ride was Space Mountain because the ride went really fast and it was completely dark. There was also a Greek town we went to where there were many stores and restaurants. It was a really fun vacation.

                                                          https://disneyland.disney.go.com/

For extracurricular activities I am in Spanish Club and Spanish Honor Society. In Spanish Club we go on many fun field trips every year. The field trips aren't really related to Spanish that much though. Last year we went to go watch the Hunger Games at the movie theater and we also went ice-skating. What I really like about Spanish Club is that my friends and I can get together and spend time with each other.

What is most important to me is my family. I have two little sisters who are younger than me. They don’t always listen to me but I still love then very much. For my hobbies I like to read, ice-skate, ski, and travel. Even when I was really young I enjoyed reading. I tend to read a book quickly, but I am picky when choosing what book to read. My favorite books that I have read are the A Song of Ice And Fire series by George R.R Martin because the books are so complex because there are about 10 or more different points of views in the book. My favorite subject in school is History, because I like learning about what happened in the past.

Writing is more difficult for me than reading. I am not a really good creative writer and I prefer to write something where I can look up facts, rather than having to make something up. My goals as a writer are to get better and feel more comfortable with creative writing.

My goals for junior year are to get good grades, get a good score on my SAT’s, and to make High Honor Roll. My concerns for this year are that I won't do well in Algabra2/Trig. My plans for next year are to take things easy and enjoy my last year of high school.

I hope to learn more from this experience, and I hope everyone has a fun and enjoyable junior year.


Sincerely,


Tina