1
Chronic Diseases
Heart Disease
Stephanie Tumlin
South University
PHE5015- Principles of Epidemiology SU01
Professor Biroscak
July 17, 2021
Cardiovascular Disease
Cardiovascular disease is a significant health challenge among the elderly population. Cardiovascular disease entails a health challenge that affects the heart or blood vessels. The disease is related to the build-up of fatty deposits in the arteries (WHO, 2021). The fatty deposits create an obstruction that blocks the proper flow of blood into the heart. Cardiovascular disease is a significant health challenge because it affects many people and causes many deaths and disabilities. The disease is caused by various factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, unhealthy diet, obesity, high cholesterol, lack of physical exercise, diabetes, and family history. The symptoms of cardiovascular disease include chest pain, breathing difficulties, breath shortness, vomiting, feeling faint, lightheadedness, back pain, and jaw pain (WHO, 2021). A person who experiences these symptoms should seek immediate medical attention. Cardiovascular disease can be prevented by adopting healthy lifestyle changes such as eating healthy diets and participating in regular exercises. Other strategies to reduce the chances of getting the disease include controlling the blood pressure, maintaining a healthy weight, avoiding smoking, limiting alcohol intake, and managing stress. Individuals with cardiovascular disease are exposed to different treatment interventions to restore their health conditions. Such treatment options include cholesterol control medications, blood flow improvement drugs, cardiac rehabilitation, and coronary artery bypass surgery.
People
People entail the population at a high risk of being affected by a particular disease. All people can get cardiovascular disease. However, some people are at a higher risk of getting the disease than others. The elderly population is at a higher risk of getting and being affected by cardiovascular disease (CardioSmart, 2019). Age plays an essential duty in cardiovascular functionality deterioration, leading to increased cardiovascular disease risk in older individuals. The risk of getting cardiovascular disease is 40% in individuals aged 40 to 59, 75% in people aged 60 to 79, and 86% in individuals aged above 80 (Rodgers et al., 2019). This shows that the risk of cardiovascular disease increases with age. Older women are at a higher risk of getting the disease than men. The risk of cardiovascular disease is 78.2% in women and 77.2% in men aged 60 to 79.
The following are the reasons why older adults are at a higher risk of getting cardiovascular disease. Aging causes changes in blood vessels and the heart. For instance, as a person ages, the heart cannot beat as fast during physical exercises as it did during young ages. This reduces the ability of the body to burn excess fats leading to cardiovascular disease (Rodgers et al., 2019). The other reason is that aging reduces a person’s ability to engage in physical activities. Elderly people spend much time in one place, leading to the accumulation of fatty deposits in the arteries leading to cardiovascular disease. The other reason is that most individuals aged 65 have underlying conditions such as stroke, hypertension, and diabetes (Singh et al., 2019). These underlying health conditions are among the leading causes of cardiovascular disease. They put elderly individuals at a high risk of getting and being affected by cardiovascular disease.
Place
Place entails the region affected by a particular disease. Cardiovascular disease is a global health issue because it affects people in different countries worldwide. The disease causes about 17.9 million deaths in different countries, representing 32% of the total deaths worldwide reported in 2019 (WHO, 2021). However, some countries are more affected by cardiovascular disease than others. The number of elderly individuals affected by cardiovascular disease is high in low and middle-income nations than in high-income countries (ESC, 2019). The low and middle-income countries lack sufficient resources to adopt proper preventive measures to fight cardiovascular disease. However, cardiovascular disease is still a significant issue in developed countries such as the United States. In the United States, 121.5 million adults have cardiovascular disease representing about 48% of the adults (CardioSmart, 2019). This shows that the disease is a significant health challenge that affects many people. Cardiovascular disease causes 80% of deaths of individuals aged 65 and above.
Time
The time evaluates the period when a particular disease affected the people. Cardiovascular disease has been a significant health challenge for a significant period. The disease affected people in the previous decades, and it is still a problem in the current decade. The trend shows that cardiovascular disease among elderly individuals has increased from the earlier decades. The disease’s incidences have increased to the point that it represents one-third of the total global deaths in 2019 (Singh et al., 2019). The increase in cardiovascular disease incidences comes as a result of the adoption of unhealthy lifestyle practices. Such practices include unhealthy diets and spending much time in passive activities such as watching television and playing video games. In the United States, cardiovascular disease incidence is increasing, and it is expected to continue rising. This is because the US population is aging, and cardiovascular disease mostly affects elderly individuals. By 2030, elderly individuals will represent 20% of the entire population in the United States (Singh et al., 2019). Therefore, the aged population will increase the number of cardiovascular disease cases in the US.
Conclusion
Cardiovascular disease is a significant health issue that affects a large number of people. The disease can affect people of different ages, but the risk is higher among older adults aged 65 and above. Most elderly individuals have underlying conditions which increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Proper strategies need to be formulated to save the elderly population from cardiovascular disease.
References
CardioSmart (2019). Latest Statistics Say Nearly Half of Americans Have Some Form of
Heart Disease.
https://www.cardiosmart.org/news/2019/2/latest-statistics-say-nearly-half-of-americans-have-some-form-of-heart-disease
ESC (2019). Middle-income countries are hardest hit by cardiovascular disease in Europe.
https://www.escardio.org/The-ESC/Press-Office/Press-releases/Middle-income-countries-are-hardest-hit-by-cardiovascular-disease-in-Europe
Rodgers et al. (2019). Cardiovascular risks associated with gender and aging. Journal of
Cardiovascular development and disease, 6(2), 19.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6616540/
Singh et al. (2019). Spatiotemporal and demographic trends and disparities in cardiovascular
Disease among older adults in the United States based on 181 million hospitalization
Records. Journal of the American Heart Association, 8(21), e012727.
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.119.012727
WHO (2021). Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cardiovascular-diseases-(cvds)
The post 1 Chronic Diseases Heart Disease Stephanie Tumlin South University PHE5015- Principles of appeared first on PapersSpot.
