Cardiovascular Health : Genes And Hormones

The prevalence of congestive heart failure is on the increase both in the United States and all over the world, and it is the leading cause of hospitalization in the elderly population. Congestive heart failure is a progressive disease generally seen in the elderly, which if not properly managed, can lead to repeated hospital admissions or death. Heart failure means that the heart muscle is weakened. A weakened heart muscle may not be strong enough to pump an adequate amount of blood out of its chambers. To compensate for its diminished pumping capacity, the heart may enlarge. Commonly, the heart's pumping inefficiency causes a buildup of blood in the

Heart failure is a syndrome where the heart lacks the ability to pump blood effectively throughout the body for a prolonged period. It often co-exists with other diseases or related illnesses that causes damage to the heart, such as atrial

Heart Failure is a progressive heart disease when the muscle of the heart is weakened so that it cannot pump blood as it should; the blood backs up into the blood vessels around the lungs and the other parts of the body (NHS Choice, 2015). In heart failure, the heart is not able to maintain a normal range cardiac output to meet the metabolic needs of the body (Kemp and Conte, 2012). Heart failure is a major worldwide public health problem, it is the end stage of heart disease and it could lead to high mortality. At present, heart failure is usually associated with old age, given the dramatic increase in the population of older people (ACCF/AHA, 2013). In the USA, there are about 5.7 million adults who have heart failure, about half of the people die within 5 years of diagnosis, and it costs the nation an estimated $30.7 billion each year (ACCF/AHA, 2013).

Heart failure affects nearly 6 million Americans. It is the leading cause of hospitalization in people older than 65. Roughly 550,000 people are diagnosed with heart failure each year (Emory Healthcare, 2014). Heart failure is a pathologic state where the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the demand of the body’s metabolic needs or when the ventricle’s ability to fill is impaired. It is not a disease, but rather a complex clinical syndrome. The symptoms of heart failure come from pulmonary vascular congestion and inadequate perfusion of the systemic circulation. Individuals experience orthopnea,

If the heart beats too fast, too slow or irregularly, it may not be able to pump enough blood to all of the body.

According to the WHO, cardiovascular diseases have been the leading cause of death globally claiming 17 million lives a year, more deaths than all cancer combined (Chiu and Radisic, 2013). Cardiovascular disease is responsible for a preponderance of health problems and its impact is expected to grow further as the population ages. In the UK, NHS spends about £7.74 billion as the expenditure to deal with cardiovascular diseases (Barton et al., 2011). Cardiovascular disease in the form of myocardial infarction has become the principle cause of death in developed countries, accounting for nearly 40% of all deaths (http://www.bhf.org.uk/). Congenital heart defects, which occur in nearly 14 of every 1000 new-born children, is another tragic fact that baffles medical industry (http://www.heart.org/). About 61 million Americans (almost one-fourth of the population) live with cardiovascular diseases, such as coronary heart disease, congenital cardiovascular defects, and congestive heart failure.

Heart failure (HF) is defined as a multifaceted clinical syndrome that can result from any structural or functional cardiac disorder that impairs the ability of the ventricle to fill with or eject blood. In HF, the heart may not provide tissues with adequate blood for metabolic needs, and cardiac-related elevation of pulmonary or systemic venous pressures may result in organ congestion1. In the United States, HF is increasing in incidence with about 5.1 million people suffering from HF and half of people who develop HF die within 5years 2. Over 75% of existing and new cases occurred in individuals over 65 years of age, < 1% in individuals below 60 years, nearly 10% in those over 80 years of age. HF costs the

Condition where the left side of the heart is unable to pump an adequate amount of blood to the body, and can be life-threatening.

Heart failure (HF) is one of the leading causes of hospital admissions and readmissions in the United States (Desai & Stevenson, 2012; Gheorghiade, Vaduganathan, Fonarow, & Bonow, 2013). It is a condition that accounts for a very high morbidity and mortality (Bakal, McAlister, Liu, & Ezekowitz, 2014). Every hospital admission for heart failure patients results in disease progression and poor prognosis. For chronic HF patients, a hospitalization is one of the strongest prognostic predictors for increased mortality (Gheorghiade et al., 2013). Factoring in re-hospitalizations, especially at 30-day to 90-day mark, it is increasingly detrimental to patient prognosis.

The chronic disease burden has increased the need for a statewide and national approach in its detection, prevention, and treatment of heart failure. In the state of Indiana heart disease is shown to be leading the way with a total of 13,394 individuals who have died in 2013 (Indiana State, 2013). The health indicators show that although the mortality rate has decreased from 42.3 per 100,000 in 2001 to 37.3 per 100,000 hospitalization rates have increased (Center for Disease, 2011). Heart failure rehospitalization rate has increased from 2007-2011 especially in those who are over the age of 85. In 2011, there were a total of 41.9 per 1,000 hospitalizations due to heart failure. This is gradually increasing from the Healthy People 2020

organisms, which have had a specific gene implemented into them from a certain animal, plant or

Heart failure is a condition in which the heart muscle becomes too weak to maintain an adequate cardiac output to meet the body’s

As the population ages heart failure is expected to increase exceptionally. About twenty-two percent of men and forty-four percent of women will develop heart failure within six years of having a heart attack. “Thirty years ago patients would have died from their heart attacks!” (Couzens)

    Through recombinant DNA techniques, scientists have already experimented with bacteria and copied their cellular system that allows them to defend themselves from viruses in order to create a new restriction enzyme called Cas9, which then gets bound to an RNA guide strand. This new enzyme introduces new genetic material into the human genome as DNA replicates. This method will be useful for families members who carry harmful recessive alleles. Their babies could inherit the genetic disorder, but with recombinant DNA techniques, the harmful gene or genes could easily be replaced with a functional gene. Lauren Friedman, Senior editor for

The polymerase chain reaction or PCR for short can be used to create many copies of DNA. This allows the DNA to then be visualized using a dye like ethidium bromide after gel electrophoresis. The process has been refined over the years, however the basic steps are similar.