Essay On Atherosclerosis

Many of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease cause problems because they lead to atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is the narrowing and thickening of arteries and develops for years without causing symptoms. It can happen in any part of the body. Around the heart, it is known as coronary artery disease, in the legs it is known as peripheral arterial disease. The narrowing and thickening of the arteries is due to the deposition of fatty material, cholesterol and other substances in the walls of blood vessels. The deposits are known as plaques. The rupture of a plaque can lead to stroke or a heart attack. (World Heart Federation).

Heart disease is the leading cause of death among women in the United States. It is estimated that one in four women die from heart disease every year. Women are at a higher risk for heart disease than men because of a lack of knowledge and information. Women often feel the need to care for others before themselves and neglect their own health needs. As mothers, and sisters, and daughters it is important to protect our health for those that depend on us. Heart disease is preventable through knowledge and awareness and taking precautionary steps.

Atherosclerosis is the process in which substances known as plaques, which are made up of cholesterol and platelets, adhere to tears in the walls of arteries. Over time these plaques build up to the point where they occlude blood flow in the arteries. When this happens in the coronary arteries, either directly, as the result of buildup in the arteries themselves, indirectly in the form a clot from another part of the body breaking loose and becoming lodged in the coronary arteries, the usual result is a heart attack.3

     Atherosclerosis is one of a group of health problems that define coronary artery disease, oftentimes referred to as heart disease. Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of heart disease in the United States. The following is the definition provided by the American Heart Association:

Currently, Heart disease is the leading cause of death among women in the United States (Haskell et al., 2014). In the 2016 Update of the Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics report from the American Heart Association, women, in general, have a 32% prevalence rate for LDL issues vs. 31% for men. Likewise, in older women vs older men, the prevalence for hypertension rates for women were 57% vs. 54% in men (Mozaffarian et al., 2016). Within the VA, there is an even bigger gap for management of LDL’s and heart disease. 79.47% of women vs. 88.89% of men have LDL levels within the normal limits. Similarly, 79.34% of women vs. 85.67% of men with diabetes had an LDL within normal limits (Whitehead et al., 2014). Both high LDL and hypertension are proven risk factors for heart disease and stroke. When paired with diabetes, risk of peripheral artery disease, heart failure, and irregular heartbeat can also be factors (Mozaffarian et al., 2016).

The heart disease is one of the killer diseases among the American women. The heart disease is a heart group disease and the heart's blood vessel system. The most common type of heart disease is the Coronary heart disease. The Coronary disease affects the human blood vessels in the heart causing a heart attack or the angina (Gregson, 2009). Angina is a type of condition whereby an individual experiences chest pains in case the heart fails to get enough blood. An individual usually experiences sharp pressing chest pains but sometimes the back, shoulders and arms are also affected. Some of the

In addition, the researchers conducted a chart review of each participant 's medical record. In this study the results showed that “compared with men, women used more evasive and supportive coping and rated psychologic aspects of the heart disease as more problematic to manage. More women perceived available support from friends and grandchildren, and more men perceived available support from their partner. Women rated lower levels in physical and psychologic dimensions of quality of life” (Kristofferzon et al., 2005, p. 39).

Over the past few years, heart disease has been the number one killer in women

heart disease is said to be the number one killer in women (A.H.E.M. Maas et

Greeting: Hello Everyone, My name is Shelly Kutschenko and I’m here to talk about Heart disease in women

Traditionally men are considered to be at high risk. However Hemingway et al reported that women have a similarly high incidence of angina when compared with men. Additionally women with stable angina have an increased long-term coronary mortality when compared with women from the general population (122, 124).

The topic I will explore is heart disease in women. The question, what do healthcare providers need to know about cardiovascular disease in women and how their symptoms and presentation differ from men will be discussed. Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in women and men in the Western world. Nearly 1 million cardiovascular related deaths a year are women. Many women’s risk factors go unrecognized and untreated by their primary care physician (Pregler et al., 2009). According to FamilyDoctor.org, “American women are 4 to 6 times more likely to die of heart disease that of breast cancer” (2009). In generally men have an earlier onset of heart disease than to women but have a higher survival rate from heart

Macrophage which is now foam-like accumulates on the blood vessel to form visible fatty streak which then undergoes apoptosis. The plaque continues to grow and hardens narrowing the arteries. This ruptures and causes a blood clot which limits the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the body causing a heart attack, stroke or even death. Factors that are known to predispose to atherosclerosis are physical inactivity, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, cigarette smoking and hypertension which increase the chances by two-fold by damaging the vascular endothelium. Experimental studies have just shown that excess blood levels of iron can lead to atherosclerosis (Guyton and Hall, 2011).

breast cancer from twenty five to thirty percent and women age forty the data states a

However, this doesn’t mean that they are not at risk for having high cholesterol or avoiding heart disease. Did you know that women are less likely to respond quickly to a heart attack then men? Even though many women think that breast cancer is the top health risk for their gender, this is actually not true—its actually heart disease. There are so many women who believe that they need to worry about breast cancer, but they really should think about their chances of having a heart attack. This is why drastically higher numbers of women die of their first heart attack when compared to the number of male fatalities for the same reason.