Heart Disease (Essay Sample)

Heart Disease
Name
Institution
Heart Disease
Introduction
Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death not only in the U.S, but also all over the world. In the U.S alone, the disease causes nearly half a million deaths every year, with about 1.5 million people experiencing heart attacks and stroke annually (Lilly & Harvard Medical School, 2011). While some think that heart disease is more common among the women than in men, just as many men as women die of the disease every year. Today, heart disease has also become common among children (Bybee, 2012). Although more deaths occur on adults, children too are vulnerable to suffering the symptoms of heart disease. It is important for individuals to know the risks involved with heart disease, which should obliged individuals to know their family history to verify any history of heart disease, which is crucial for prevention measures. Despite the level of seriousness of the disease, it is necessary to understand that there are available prevention and treatment measures that could be adopted to save a person’s life from the scourge of the disease (NIH, 2014). In understanding heart disease, this paper seeks to define the disease by elaborating on some of its common types, pinpointing those who are at risk and how the levels of risks differ among different genders. It would also focus on discussing what the future holds in terms of prevention and treatment of heart disease.
Causes of Heart Disease
Heart disease is one of a larger health problem called cardiovascular diseases, which comprise of the diseases of the heart and blood vessel system. Other common cardiovascular diseases include high blood pressure, stroke, angina, and rheumatic heart disease. A majority of cardiovascular diseases occur due to buildup of fatty plaques in arteries or atherosclerosis, damaging the blood vessel or the heart.
Angina
Plaques cause the narrowing of the arteries, causing their walls to harden. Arteries play an important role in the heart. They carry oxygenated blood from the heart to the rest of the body tissues facilitating the rejuvenation of body cells. When plaques start forming on the arteries’ walls, they hamper blood flow from the heart and this affects the heart in that it fails to get sufficient oxygen-rich blood. When the narrowing and hardening of the arteries walls persist to about 50%, the person may start feeling chest pain and discomfort commonly referred to as angina (Ramos, 2014). Angina is a major symptom of coronary heart disease, which is a common heart disease among adults. It makes one feel like squeezing or pressure in the chest. Sometimes the pain can be felt around the shoulders, neck, back, or the region around the jaw. Angina can occur in different forms with different level of pain severity and it is always necessary to seek medical examination to determine the type of angina, in order to administer proper treatment. It is believed that angina affects nearly 7 million people in the U.S every year (CDC, 2014). This heart problem equally affects men and women. Although it primarily affects individuals above 55 years, it sometimes starts building up in children while at their tender ages, which if not properly treated, progresses to endanger the life of the child.
Heart Attack
In some situations, the plaque forming in the arterial walls raptures allowing blood platelets to stick around the injured site. The formation of the platelets may clump together, forming blood clots, which further narrows the artery worsening the angina. Continuous formation of clots ends up becoming large enough to completely blocking a coronary artery, preventing oxygenated blood from flowing through them to the heart and other parts of the body. In such a situation, the person suffers heart attack. Heart attack is characterized by the dying of the heart muscles that are deprived oxygen due to lack of blood flow rich in oxygen. According to research, heart attack is the leading heart problem that kills the most men and women in the U.S (Ramos, 2014). Some of the common symptoms of heart attack include chest pains, upper body discomfort, shortness of breath, nausea and sometimes a person may experience breaking out in a cold sweat (Lilly & Harvard Medical School, 2011). Any symptom of heart attack should be treated urgently to avoid putting the life of the patient at risk of developing heart failure or arrhythmias, which is a fatal problem associated with the rhythm of the heart.
Stroke
Plaque formation is not only limited to the arteries in the heart. They may progress to other parts of the body such as in the arteries in legs, brain, and neck. Notably, building up of plaque in the brains can be very dangerous. In brain arteries, plaque causes inadequacy of oxygenated blood flow, resulting to a heart disease called atherosclerosis, which is associated with a serious heart problem of stroke. Stroke is the third leading cause of death and the leading cause of disability in the U.S. According to Centers for Disease control and Prevention (CDC) (2014), stroke kills approximately 130,000 people every year. This is a huge number compared to the 795,000 people who get stroke annually in the country. Out of these strokes, it is believed that 87% are those that relate to the blockage of blood to the brain, which are most likely to be caused by plaque. Although nearly a third of all strokes recorded in the country occur in people above the age of 65 years, children also are vulnerable to the heart condition. Stroke is a serious heart condition that requires urgent medical attention.
Atherosclerosis
Atherosclerosis is the most common causal factor of cardiovascular disease. It involves the narrowing of the arteries due to plaque formation. Plaque is occurs when the endothelium wall of the artery is damaged by high cholesterol level, high blood pressure or smoking. In the heart, atherosclerosis causes coronary artery disease, which is the number one killer heart disease in the U.S. However, atherosclerosis does not present any symptoms until one reaches middle or older ages when the artery is 70% covered by plaque (Martel, 2012). Notably, some of the major causes of the condition such as high cholesterol level, smoking, lack of exercise, obesity, and dieting are correctible, and people should avoid instances of developing such conditions and behaviours to avoid the heart disease. Tobacco consumption whether smoking or chewing increases the chances of getting atherosclerosis. Smoking increases carbon monoxide level in the blood, which damages the artery linings. It further promotes the buildup of LDL “bad” cholesterol, lowering the HDL “good” cholesterol, interfering with the blood flow in the heart. Hereditary may play part to a person acquiring atherosclerosis. Some people’s genetic compositions are susceptible to developing symptoms of atherosclerosis, which increases the chances of the persons getting heart disease. Dietary behaviour is also a major contributory factor to developing atherosclerosis. Taking too much sodium, of above 0.05% in diet increases the chances of plaque buildup, exposing one to the danger of developing the heart disease (Martel, 2012). This is similar to taking foods that have high content of cholesterol. Lack of exercise contributes much in the accumulation of cholesterol in the blood artery. Exercises further helps in boosting one’s immune system to help fight against diseases such as obesity, which is a great threat to developing heart disease in both children and adults.
Who are at risk?
In America, various factors expose people to the risks of heart disease. About 47% of the Americans have at least one factor, exposing one to the dangers of suffering heart disease (CDC, 2014). This is because many people in the country live unhealthy lifestyles, entailing such practices as smoking cigarettes and excessive alcohol drinking, lack of exercise causing obesity and other lifestyle related diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, which increase one’s vulnerability to developing heart disease. Heart disease is also common among people of age 55 years and above and among those with family history of a heart disease such as heart attack. However, researchers have identified that some of the groups with the highest risks of getting heart disease include older individuals and African Americans. These groups have the highest incidences of high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes. According the researchers, African Americans are believed to carry genes that increase their sensitivity to salt thus exposing them to the risk of developing blood pressure at tender ages (Kam, 2014). The African Americans have the highest prevalence of hypertension in the world, at 26% of the population. Obesity is also high among them, at 77% for women and 63% for men all above the age of 20 years (CDC, 2014). The African Americans are also as twice as likely to get diabetes as non-Hispanic Whites. Among all the African American at the age of 20 and above, 15% of them suffers from diabetes. Owing to these facts, African Americans have a 20 times higher rate of experiencing heart failure before the age of 50. Among the African American population, the women have higher risks of getting heart disease than the men (Ramos, 2014). It is believed that the reason why African Americans have higher incidences of heart disease than the whites is that they have limited access to quality health care in the country. The prevention of heart failure and other disease requires successful treatment of the risk factors.
Gender Differences and Heart Disease
Heart disease is leading cause of mortality among women (Harvard University, 2014). This is because apart from the traditional common factors that increase the risks of getting heart disease among both men and women, women have ...