Atherosclerosis

 Question 1. Can you think of some diseases that are of public health importance? There are many public health concerns, including but not limited to tuberculosis, heart disease, HIV, cancer, and diabetes. Perhaps some mental health disorders could be included, since they are a big problem in today’s society such as anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder.  Question 2. Can you think of some risk factors that are of public health importance? Risk factors of public health importance are obesity…

Throughout history, there are different guidelines set on the topic of exercise testing. Two organizations that handle these changes are the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA). These organizations set guidelines for exercise testing in 1997 but then revised these guidelines again in 2002. In 2002, they modified ten categories from the 1997 guidelines. These ten guidelines that were changed include: ST heart rate adjustment, unstable angina, older…

Chronic heart failure is a disorder where the heart weakens and therefore the heart is unable to fill and pump blood as well as a healthy heart. Conditions that overstrain the heart muscle can lead to heart failure (5). The main causation of chronic heart failure is a heart attack which results in damage to the muscle of the left ventricle (8). In addition cardiomyopathy (chronic disease of the heart muscle) may cause heart failure; this may perhaps be initiated by a viral infection…

The leading cause of long term disability in the United States is stroke, and one American dies from stroke about every four minutes. Stroke by definition is the sudden death of brain cells due to lack of oxygen. The main types of stoke are hemorrhagic, ischemic, and a transient ischemic attack. Hemorrhagic stroke is broken in to two types, and the most common is the intracerebral hemorrhage, when an artery in the brain bursts flooding the brain with blood. The second and less common…

Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm An aneurysm is a weakened or damaged part of an artery wall that bulges from the normal force of blood pumping through the body. An abdominal aortic aneurysm is an aneurysm that occurs in the lower part of the aorta, the main artery of the body. The major concern with an abdominal aortic aneurysm is that it can enlarge and burst (rupture) or blood can flow between the layers of the wall of the aorta through a tear (aortic dissection). Both of these conditions can…

According to the WHO and MHO statistical yearbook, 42 percent of the death in 2010 are caused by cardiomyopathy diseases in Saudi Arabia. The rates of death in 2010 is 375 out of 100,000. According to the new statistical yearbook for 1431H, the death rates declined from 17.99 percent to 16.39 percent in the year 2008,2009 and 2010. Ischemic cardiomyopathy is one type of cardiomyopathy. According to Cleveland Clinic,” In Ischemic CM, the heart's ability to pump blood is decreased because the…

Pericarditis A. Etiology – The most common causes of pericarditis are either that it is idiopathic (unknown origin), or due to a viral infection. Other causes include: trauma, a myocardial, infarction, other types of infection, or other inflammatory conditions. B. Pathophysiology – This pathology is the inflammation of the pericardium of the heart. This inflammation causes narrowing of the pericardial space, which may also cause scarring. If left untreated this may lead to pericardial effusion,…

The force of blood as it circulates against the blood vessel's inner walls is called blood pressure. There are many things affect blood pressure, causing it to rise. * The amount of force with which the blood pumps * The amount of blood in the body * The blood vessel's diameter So that generally, blood pressure rises when the heart pumps harder, there is an increase in the amount of blood in the body, or there is a decrease in the diameter of the blood vessels that carries the blood.…

Life or Death? A fourteen year old boy was undergoing surgery when his heart suddenly stopped. Otherwise known as cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest is when the heart stops all electrical activity, eventually stopping the heart muscle from contracting. When the heart stops beating, the whole body including the brain does not receive oxygen. If the brain lacks oxygen for, ten to fifteen minutes, there could be permanent brain damage. It is crucial that the heart starts beating or someone starts…

This article provides background information on chronic liver disease and states that it can be caused by many things, including alcohol abuse, chronic viral hepatitis, and metabolic factors. Over time, fibrotic tissue develops and without treatment, causes chronic injury and becomes fibrotic. Fibrosis then impairs the normal oxygenation and vasculature to the liver tissue. The author states that according to a large study, cirrhosis is the fourth leading cause of death due to non-communicable…