Case Study: A Growing Epidemic Of Heart Disease
Daniel Valentine
Ms. Blood
Research paper
3/15/2014
Heart Disease, A growing Epidemic.
Look at the highway just a few miles away. Right now you see the cars on it speeding along, nothing is wrong with the system. You see a bad driver and he causes disorder and mayhem. He causes traffic to move more slowly. Because of him, now other people cannot get to their destinations fast enough, causing problems outside of the highway. The bad driving causes accidents, and now an ambulance has to come, police arrive, and the highway is shut down. All these problems are caused by a single person. Now you see multiple bad drivers get on the highway, what happens then?
The analogy of the highway system relates to how the heart works, it pumps blood much …show more content…
like how cars drive on the highway. Then you eat something unhealthy, smoke a cigarette, or do not exercise enough, all of these can be constituted to the bad driver on the highway. One thing can cause a variety of problems to your heart. Science in Context’s article “Heart Defects” states that the heart is the muscular organ responsible for pumping blood throughout the body. Given its vital function, any heart defect is serious, and many are life-threatening. Not only this, if something is wrong with the heart, not only the heart is affected. All parts of your body require oxygen down to a cellular basis, and blood is what carries it. Heart Disease is the leading cause of death in the world; living healthier lifestyles will decrease the amount of deaths from heart failure.
The heart is a muscular organ that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the body.
“Heart Disease” is a broad term to describe any problem associated with the heart. The heart is basically a big hollow muscle. Its cellular makeup is different from that of skeletal muscles. The muscles of the heart have to contract simultaneously, which you don’t have control over as one does with skeletal muscles. Science in Context’s article “Heart Defects” states that the heart is the muscular organ responsible for pumping blood throughout the body. It can operate defectively due to genetic malformation, diseases, or damage due to ailments such as stroke. Given its vital function, any heart defect is serious, and many are …show more content…
life-threatening.
The number of people diagnosed with heart disease is only increasing.
Heart disease is a term used to describe a variety of diseases that affect your heart. The various diseases include diseases of your blood vessels, such as coronary artery disease; heart rhythm problems such as arrhythmias; heart infections; and heart defects one is born with. Heart disease is the leading cause of death and about 600000 people die each year from heart disease. Unless people learn how to take care of themselves, that number will only increase. There has always be break troughs in modern medicine, but the deaths only increase every year. The United States is the country with the leading number of people diagnosed and the leading number of deaths from these diseases.
People do not know the risks for heart disease, or even what a risk is. According to Health and Wellness Resource Center’s article, “Risk Factors and Assessment” The term risk is something that causes a person or group of people to be particularly vulnerable to an unwanted, unpleasant or unhealthy event that increases the incidence or severity of an undesirable event such as an infection. There are so many risks that are associated to heart disease. According to UCFS Medical Center’s article, “Heart and Vascular Disease: Prevention Tips” Major risk factors
are:
Age 65 or older
Depression
Excessive drinking
Family history of heart disease
High blood pressure
High stress
Obesity
Poor nutrition or dietary habits
Sedentary lifestyle
Smoking
When researching there was nothing on heart disease being taught in lower levels of education. The only way that somebody could find out about this growing problem is if one were to research it personally, they have a problem with their heart, or you go to medical school. For most of people, this is not an option; some people do not have computers, and most people will not go to medical school. If somebody has to wait until they have something wrong with their health to find out they have a heart defect, something is seriously wrong. High school health classes cover more broad problems, and don’t focus on one thing. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the world, making it important to know about. Even though it’s such a big problem, people still don’t know what the risk are, or how vulnerable they are to it.
Another problem is that doctors and researchers don’t know enough about heart disease and where it comes from. Congenital heart defects are problems that develop in your heart before birth, and the causes of congenital heart defects are still unknown. Science in Context’s article “Heart Defects” states the causes of congenital heart damage are still unclear. Doctors can only determine that the mother must have done something while pregnant to cause these problems. What a mother could do to cause congenital defects ties into the risk factors. Thus, it proves that these risk factors are real and people don’t know about them, because this keeps happening. If people knew the problems and the risks, they could start to learn how to prevent the disease too.
The one way that will for sure slow down the rampage of heart disease throughout the world is people living healthier lifestyles. Even doing something as little as changing your eating habits can drastically change your risk for heart disease. Another solution is surgical implements or getting exercise on a daily basis. Any of these solutions can drastically change your life when the problem is heart disease.
One major solution to taking the first step to a healthier heart is to eat healthier. Eating more greens can really help lower blood pressure. Dr. Yoko Yokoyama, a researcher at the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center in Osaka, Japan, says, "However, in order to make healthful food choices, people need guidance from scientific studies," she said. "Our analysis found that vegetarian diets lower blood pressure very effectively, and the evidence for this is now quite conclusive." These studies have proven to lower blood pressure, thousands of adults participated in this study, and the ones who ate a vegetarian diet showed a decrease in blood pressure. High blood pressure is what starts most of the most common heart diseases, having a lower blood pressure will prevent any further damage from happening. Not only does eating healthier help, exercising can have a huge impact on heart health as well.
A sedentary lifestyle is one of the top risk factors for heart disease. Fortunately, it's a risk factor that something can be done about. Regular exercise, especially aerobic exercise, has many benefits to the heart. Cardiovascular or aerobic activity strengthens the heart and lungs and improves the body's ability to use oxygen. Aerobic exercise has the most benefits for the heart. Over time, aerobic exercise can help decrease heart rate and blood pressure at rest and improve breathing. In general, to achieve maximum benefits, one should gradually work up to an aerobic session lasting 20 to 30 minutes, at least three to four times a week. Exercising every day or every other day will help keep a regular aerobic exercise schedule. If exercising and eating healthy are not good options, there are always surgeries that can treat heart disease.
There are many surgeries that can benefit somebody with heart disease, whether it is congenital of self inflicted. America has the highest obesity rate (which is why exercise is important) and with obesity, comes fatty buildup on the heart. A coronary bypass is the most common type of heart related surgery in America. A coronary bypass treats blocked heart arteries by creating new passages for blood to flow to your heart muscle. There have also been surgical advancements such as 3D printing. 3D printers print models of the heart to allow doctors to do more extensive treatments. Dr. Stanley Lopata, Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering, states, “With this application, we image the patient’s heart through MRI or CT scan, then computationally extract the image to build a 3-D model that we can print on a 3-D printer. We then mold the shape of the membrane that will constitute the base of the device deployed on the surface of the heart.” Everything comes at a price; there are setbacks to all solutions.
There are many setbacks to receiving heart disease treatments, or actually doing the solutions. Most people have jobs, and have a life to live. This makes a person too busy to go to the gym, or go run around outside. This causes a lack of exercise and that’s a risk factor. A lot of people are not motivated to do anything about their body, or they think their fine the way they are. Religious people may rely on prayer rather than seeking medical attention. According to Health and Wellness Resource Center’s article, “Risk Factors and Assessment,” religious beliefs can have both positive and negative effects on one's risk for disease. In perhaps the most extreme example, some religious groups believe that medical conditions should be treated only by prayer or other religious observances. The biggest setback to receiving heart treatment is money. Healthcare costs are astronomical when it comes to heart disease. A coronary bypass procedure costs $35,000 and up. A heart transplant costs nearly $800,000! Most people do not have $800,000 laying around their house somewhere.
All in all, heart disease is a serious issue that can be both easy and hard to slow down. Somebody could exercise, eat better, or get surgery to fix their heart health, but overall, it’s still difficult nonetheless. If people were not so focused on getting a healthier heart, if they already had one, they could do more with their life. They wouldn’t have to worry about astronomical healthcare costs or what to eat, they would do it naturally. But it will never change. People all over the world know as much that is in his paper and do nothing about it. People do not change, and will never change, there is a reason why heart disease is the leading cause of death, and most of it is self inflicted.
Ms. Blood
Research paper
3/15/2014
Heart Disease, A growing Epidemic.
Look at the highway just a few miles away. Right now you see the cars on it speeding along, nothing is wrong with the system. You see a bad driver and he causes disorder and mayhem. He causes traffic to move more slowly. Because of him, now other people cannot get to their destinations fast enough, causing problems outside of the highway. The bad driving causes accidents, and now an ambulance has to come, police arrive, and the highway is shut down. All these problems are caused by a single person. Now you see multiple bad drivers get on the highway, what happens then?
The analogy of the highway system relates to how the heart works, it pumps blood much …show more content…
like how cars drive on the highway. Then you eat something unhealthy, smoke a cigarette, or do not exercise enough, all of these can be constituted to the bad driver on the highway. One thing can cause a variety of problems to your heart. Science in Context’s article “Heart Defects” states that the heart is the muscular organ responsible for pumping blood throughout the body. Given its vital function, any heart defect is serious, and many are life-threatening. Not only this, if something is wrong with the heart, not only the heart is affected. All parts of your body require oxygen down to a cellular basis, and blood is what carries it. Heart Disease is the leading cause of death in the world; living healthier lifestyles will decrease the amount of deaths from heart failure.
The heart is a muscular organ that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the body.
“Heart Disease” is a broad term to describe any problem associated with the heart. The heart is basically a big hollow muscle. Its cellular makeup is different from that of skeletal muscles. The muscles of the heart have to contract simultaneously, which you don’t have control over as one does with skeletal muscles. Science in Context’s article “Heart Defects” states that the heart is the muscular organ responsible for pumping blood throughout the body. It can operate defectively due to genetic malformation, diseases, or damage due to ailments such as stroke. Given its vital function, any heart defect is serious, and many are …show more content…
life-threatening.
The number of people diagnosed with heart disease is only increasing.
Heart disease is a term used to describe a variety of diseases that affect your heart. The various diseases include diseases of your blood vessels, such as coronary artery disease; heart rhythm problems such as arrhythmias; heart infections; and heart defects one is born with. Heart disease is the leading cause of death and about 600000 people die each year from heart disease. Unless people learn how to take care of themselves, that number will only increase. There has always be break troughs in modern medicine, but the deaths only increase every year. The United States is the country with the leading number of people diagnosed and the leading number of deaths from these diseases.
People do not know the risks for heart disease, or even what a risk is. According to Health and Wellness Resource Center’s article, “Risk Factors and Assessment” The term risk is something that causes a person or group of people to be particularly vulnerable to an unwanted, unpleasant or unhealthy event that increases the incidence or severity of an undesirable event such as an infection. There are so many risks that are associated to heart disease. According to UCFS Medical Center’s article, “Heart and Vascular Disease: Prevention Tips” Major risk factors
are:
Age 65 or older
Depression
Excessive drinking
Family history of heart disease
High blood pressure
High stress
Obesity
Poor nutrition or dietary habits
Sedentary lifestyle
Smoking
When researching there was nothing on heart disease being taught in lower levels of education. The only way that somebody could find out about this growing problem is if one were to research it personally, they have a problem with their heart, or you go to medical school. For most of people, this is not an option; some people do not have computers, and most people will not go to medical school. If somebody has to wait until they have something wrong with their health to find out they have a heart defect, something is seriously wrong. High school health classes cover more broad problems, and don’t focus on one thing. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the world, making it important to know about. Even though it’s such a big problem, people still don’t know what the risk are, or how vulnerable they are to it.
Another problem is that doctors and researchers don’t know enough about heart disease and where it comes from. Congenital heart defects are problems that develop in your heart before birth, and the causes of congenital heart defects are still unknown. Science in Context’s article “Heart Defects” states the causes of congenital heart damage are still unclear. Doctors can only determine that the mother must have done something while pregnant to cause these problems. What a mother could do to cause congenital defects ties into the risk factors. Thus, it proves that these risk factors are real and people don’t know about them, because this keeps happening. If people knew the problems and the risks, they could start to learn how to prevent the disease too.
The one way that will for sure slow down the rampage of heart disease throughout the world is people living healthier lifestyles. Even doing something as little as changing your eating habits can drastically change your risk for heart disease. Another solution is surgical implements or getting exercise on a daily basis. Any of these solutions can drastically change your life when the problem is heart disease.
One major solution to taking the first step to a healthier heart is to eat healthier. Eating more greens can really help lower blood pressure. Dr. Yoko Yokoyama, a researcher at the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center in Osaka, Japan, says, "However, in order to make healthful food choices, people need guidance from scientific studies," she said. "Our analysis found that vegetarian diets lower blood pressure very effectively, and the evidence for this is now quite conclusive." These studies have proven to lower blood pressure, thousands of adults participated in this study, and the ones who ate a vegetarian diet showed a decrease in blood pressure. High blood pressure is what starts most of the most common heart diseases, having a lower blood pressure will prevent any further damage from happening. Not only does eating healthier help, exercising can have a huge impact on heart health as well.
A sedentary lifestyle is one of the top risk factors for heart disease. Fortunately, it's a risk factor that something can be done about. Regular exercise, especially aerobic exercise, has many benefits to the heart. Cardiovascular or aerobic activity strengthens the heart and lungs and improves the body's ability to use oxygen. Aerobic exercise has the most benefits for the heart. Over time, aerobic exercise can help decrease heart rate and blood pressure at rest and improve breathing. In general, to achieve maximum benefits, one should gradually work up to an aerobic session lasting 20 to 30 minutes, at least three to four times a week. Exercising every day or every other day will help keep a regular aerobic exercise schedule. If exercising and eating healthy are not good options, there are always surgeries that can treat heart disease.
There are many surgeries that can benefit somebody with heart disease, whether it is congenital of self inflicted. America has the highest obesity rate (which is why exercise is important) and with obesity, comes fatty buildup on the heart. A coronary bypass is the most common type of heart related surgery in America. A coronary bypass treats blocked heart arteries by creating new passages for blood to flow to your heart muscle. There have also been surgical advancements such as 3D printing. 3D printers print models of the heart to allow doctors to do more extensive treatments. Dr. Stanley Lopata, Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering, states, “With this application, we image the patient’s heart through MRI or CT scan, then computationally extract the image to build a 3-D model that we can print on a 3-D printer. We then mold the shape of the membrane that will constitute the base of the device deployed on the surface of the heart.” Everything comes at a price; there are setbacks to all solutions.
There are many setbacks to receiving heart disease treatments, or actually doing the solutions. Most people have jobs, and have a life to live. This makes a person too busy to go to the gym, or go run around outside. This causes a lack of exercise and that’s a risk factor. A lot of people are not motivated to do anything about their body, or they think their fine the way they are. Religious people may rely on prayer rather than seeking medical attention. According to Health and Wellness Resource Center’s article, “Risk Factors and Assessment,” religious beliefs can have both positive and negative effects on one's risk for disease. In perhaps the most extreme example, some religious groups believe that medical conditions should be treated only by prayer or other religious observances. The biggest setback to receiving heart treatment is money. Healthcare costs are astronomical when it comes to heart disease. A coronary bypass procedure costs $35,000 and up. A heart transplant costs nearly $800,000! Most people do not have $800,000 laying around their house somewhere.
All in all, heart disease is a serious issue that can be both easy and hard to slow down. Somebody could exercise, eat better, or get surgery to fix their heart health, but overall, it’s still difficult nonetheless. If people were not so focused on getting a healthier heart, if they already had one, they could do more with their life. They wouldn’t have to worry about astronomical healthcare costs or what to eat, they would do it naturally. But it will never change. People all over the world know as much that is in his paper and do nothing about it. People do not change, and will never change, there is a reason why heart disease is the leading cause of death, and most of it is self inflicted.