Assignment 4
PASS
Terminal disease is made up of two words, Terminal and Disease. Terminal basically means end or pertaining to the end or extremity and diseases means illness. Terminal disease is defines as those diseases that cannot ever be cured or adequately treated and for that reason, it is likely to cause death to the patient in a relatively short time.
The terminal illness that I have chosen to research is Coronary Heart Disease. This is the result of plaque build-up in your coronary arteries, a conditional called atherosclerosis, and that leads to blockages. The arteries, which start out smooth and elastic, become narrow and rigid, restricting blood flow to the heart. The heart then becomes starved of oxygen and the vital nutrients it needs to pump properly and for this reason, once it affects you, it cannot be undone and this is where it gets its terminal illness from. Once you have been diagnosed with it, it doesn’t stop. It develops over time increasingly bringing your quality of life to a low point. Cholesterol- laden plaque can start to deposit in the blood vessel walls and as you get older, the plaque builds up, inflaming the blood vessel walls and raising the risk of blood clot and heart attack. Eventually, a narrowed coronary artery may develop new blood vessels that go around the blockage to get blood to the heart; however, during times of increased exertion or stress, the new arteries may not be able to supply enough oxygen blood to the heart muscle. (www.nhs.uk)
Coronary heart disease is caused by lifestyle habits and other conditions such as; age, as people age their risk of developing narrowed arteries, or having some kind of damage in the arteries is greater. The second one is gender, although the risk for women is still significant, especially after menopause, males are greater risk of developing coronary heart disease. Also, as many terminal diseases, genetics is one of the major factors of getting this, people who
References: http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/guide/heart-disease-treatment-care http://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/depression/questions/depression-cause-heart-attack.htm http://newsroom.heart.org/news/anxiety-depression-identify-heart-disease-patients-at-increased-risk-of-dying http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=31193