Heart Disease : A Massive Worldwide Killer

Based off of the case study regarding a 47 year old man who has recently been diagnosed with a heart disease known as CAD; I decided to further my research on this topic because it was intriguing to discover all heart diseases including coronary heart disease are taking the lives of countless individuals each year in our nation. A tremendous number of more than 13 million Americans (2005-2015, WebMD).

Cardiovascular disease (CVD), a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in Australia, affects 22% of the Australian population. Targeting this health

Nevertheless, there is an understandable and noticeable link between circulatory related diseases and lifestyle diseases, such as Coronary Heart Disease. Coronary heart disease can occur when fatty acids, such as cholesterol in an inadequate diet, build up in the walls of the coronary artery. These fatty deposits collect minerals and harden to become a plaque. Eventually, this plaque grows and can swells up, forming an aneurism. In some cases, this aneurism may burst leading to instant death. As it continues to grow and swell up, it finally blocks the artery completely and forms blood clots. This is known as coronary thrombosis. A myocardial infarction, or in other words as heart attack, occurs when no oxygen is able to reach the coronary artery and thus it is unable to fulfil its role in providing the heart muscle with a sufficient supply of blood. Heart attacks are very common in the society nowadays, especially occurring in smokers or obesity related diseases (Millar, June 2014)

Alteration in function depends not only on the size but also on the location of an infarct. An anterior left ventricular infarct often results from occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Posterior left ventricular infarcts often arise from right coronary artery obstruction, whereas lateral wall infarct usually arise from circumflex artery obstruction. This distribution varies because of individual differences in coronary artery supply. The infarct is also describe in terms of where it occurs on the myocardial surface. The transmural infarct extends from endocardium to epicardium. The subendocardial type is located on the endocardial surface, extending varying distances into the myocardial muscle. Intramural infarction is often

Noyan, T., Gozlukaya, O., & Cankaya, S. (2013). The Evaluation of Cardiac TroponinI Assays Measured Radiometer AQT90 Flex and ReLIA Analyze

The pathophysiology of ACS includes the stable plaque forms get converted into unstable plaque forms.2 These unstable plaque forms have numerous thin fibrous cap cells, inflammatory cells, activated macrophages, and smooth muscle cells. Sympathetic activity increases myocardial contractility, pulse rate, blood pressure, and coronary blood flow which leads to plaque rupture or fissure. As the artery ruptures, it causes thrombus formation and ischemia in this particular artery. Depending on the condition, different thrombi could form. The unstable angina forms a small thrombus formation, NSTEMI forms a partial thrombus formation, and STEMI forms a complete and persistent thrombus. The risk factors involved in ACS are age, physical inactivity, and history of hypertension, diabetes, or angina. The signs of acute coronary syndromes are an acute heart failure, tachycardia, bradycardia, or heart blockage, and the symptoms of ACS consist of chest pain, pain in the extremities, nausea, shortness of breath, heavy

Coronary illness is the development of plaque (fat store on the inward dividers of the veins) in the coronary conduits that supply O2 rich blood to the heart muscle, the development of plaque is called atherosclerosis. After some time passes plaques may solidify therefore limiting blood stream or totally obstructing the corridor. The development of plaque is straightforwardly identified with a people way of life, normal danger elements incorporate stoutness, high blood cholesterol and diabetes. At the point when the endothelium is harmed by blood stream, the cholesterol and fats in the blood get stuck shaping plaques. This outcomes in hypertension due the heart endeavoring to supply obliged levels of blood to the body. In the event that the blood stream to the heart muscles is limited or blocked it may

Over the past years, heart disease has constituted one of the leading causes death in America. In fact, statistics show that one in every seven deaths is as a result of heart-related diseases (American Heart Association, 2016). Conversely, most deaths reported are of elderly individuals aged above the 65 years. However, there are also other underlying conditions that elevate the risk of developing heart diseases. According to the American Heart Association (2016) 62% of men and 67.8% of women have high blood pressure that are aged between 65-74 years of age. High blood pressure exposes older people to high-risk chances of developing cardiovascular diseases, characterized by high rates of mortality, morbidity, and disability. Cardiovascular

Our body system is not immune to pathological deficiencies. There exist numerous identified pathologies which compromise the regular functioning of a heart, but all heart-related pathologies are narrowed to a single condition known as Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS). This is the term properly used in reference to the different identified clinical entities threatening the cardiovascular system. ACS is the result of the progressive or complete sudden blocking of the arteries or veins; this prevents an appropriate blood flow through the circulatory system, and as a consequence, the body is unable to receive enough oxygen and nutrients to meet its daily necessities.

The National Heart Foundation of Australia (2014) estimated that more than 350,000 Australians had experienced heart attack at some point in their lives, and about 54,000 cases are reported annually. In a statistical report circulated by Wong et al., (2013), more men than women who ages 30 to 65 years old, account of encountering this life-threatening disease in the last five years. This had claimed the lives of 8,611 Australian nationals in 2013, or in a mean of 24 people die every day (Wong et al., 2013).

Acute coronary syndrome: obstructive thrombus formed in the coronary artery by the rupturing of an artheromateus plague

Coronary artery disease is the most common type of heart disease and the #1 cause of death for both men and women in the United States resulting in about 375,000 deaths a year. (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 2014). This disease refers to “any vascular disorder that arrows or occludes the coronary arteries leading to myocardial ischemia” (Huether & McCane, 2012). It occurs when the arteries that supply blood and oxygen to the heart becomes hardened and narrowed. Also, factors such as smoking, high levels of fat & cholesterol in the blood, hypertension, high levels of sugar in the blood, and blood vessel inflammation damage the inner layers of the coronary arteries. “This disease is prevalent in younger and elderly individuals. Coronary artery calcium is highly predicative of coronary heart disease event risk across all age groups” (Tota-Maharaj et al, 2014). Coronary artery disease is caused by the buildup of cholesterol and fatty deposits, or plaque, in the inner walls of the coronary arteries in a process called atherosclerosis. Normally, the coronary arteries are smooth and elastic, lined with a layer of cells called the endothelium. The endothelium acts as a physical barrier between the blood stream and the coronary artery walls.

Heart disease is the leading cause of fatality accounting for every one in four deaths in the United States (CDC, 2015). Even though cardiovascular disease affects men and women, it is more likely for women to pass away within the first year after a heart attack (The Gender, 2015). There are several different explanations proposed as to why this gender gap exists. A person’s genetic traits and habits can increase their risk for heart disease. In order to understand the risk factors for women, we must first understand what heart disease is. Then we can examine the risk factors of heart disease, the causes, and finally prevention and treatment.

As blood pressure rises and “the blood moves with enough force, [it] increases the chances of tearing that plaque loose” and rupturing it (Sapolsky, 2004, p. 45). When a rupture occurs, the material that has become loose, a blood clot known as a thrombus, can pose as much more of a threat to a person’s life than the initial build up of plaque. If the thrombus blocks a coronary vessel then the heart muscle is unable to receive blood that is full of needed oxygen and other essential nutrients, this is known as cardiac ischemia (Steffen, Lecture 11). Ischemia can cause angina and discomfort. Another possible result of a blocked coronary artery is a heart attack, which can lead to death, and if a blood vessel in the brain is clogged then a stoke will occur.

The clinical diagnosis can be determined by performing a careful physical examination and an assessment with an electrocardiogram (Wilensky, 2012). A full clinical testing as well as blood tests can be done to diagnose unstable angina. Blood tests include testing for myocardial necrosis with troponin I, troponin T and myoglobin (Marshall, 2011). The presence of these biochemical markers are indicative of a myocardial infarction and not unstable angina. Additional testing includes an echocardiogram to assess cardiac wall abnormalities and left ventricular function (Marshall, 2011) as well as stress testing for ischemia testing (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services,