01: Introduction

Question 1

What are the five components of the heart?

Answer 1

1. Muscle
2. Valves
3. Coronary arteries
4. Conduction/electrical system
5. Pericardium

Question 2

What is the function of the pericardium?

Answer 2

Prevents the heart from distending and protects it from infection or invasion from adjacent structures.

Question 3

What is heart failure?

Answer 3

• Heart cannot provide nutrients to, remove waste from body
• Due to failure to contract (e.g., after MI), fill with blood (e.g., infiltration), valve defect, pumping too fast/long

Question 4

What are arrhythmias?

Answer 4

• Irregularity of heart rhythm (e.g., too fast/slow)
• Atrial fibrillation: atria beating much faster than ventricles
  
  • Predispose pt to stroke

Question 5

What is atherosclerosis?

Answer 5

• Disease of the arteries characterized by the deposition of plaques of fatty material on their inner walls
• Number one killer in US and in the world

Question 6

What causes pericardial disease?

Answer 6

The lining of the heart (pericardium) can become stretched by fluid accumulation within the pericardial space (after viral infx) or pericardium can become thickened; both affect the filling of the heart.

Question 7

What is prevalence?

Answer 7

Estimate of how many people have a disease at a given point in time.

E.g., 80,700,000 American adults (1 in 3) have one or more types of cardiovascular disease.

Question 8

What is incidence?

Answer 8

Number of new cases of a disease that develop in a population per unit of time.

E.g., average annual rate of first CV events rises from 3/1000 men at 35-44yo to 74/1000 men at 85-94yo.

Question 9

What are some of the modifiable risk factors of cardiovascular disease?

Answer 9

• Dyslipidemia
• Tobacco smoking
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes mellitus/metabolic syndrome
• Lack of physical activity
• Obesity

Question 10

List the pertinent blood pressure values.

Answer 10

• Normal: <120/80
• Pre-HTN: 120-139 or 80-89
• HTN: >139 or >89

Question 11

What contributes to poorly-controlled blood pressure?

Answer 11

• Lack of health insurance
• Access to medical care
• Cost of prescription drugs

Question 12

What is metabolic syndrome?

Answer 12

Clustering of risk factors which together, increaserisk of cardiovascular disease. Include:

• HTN
• Elevated triglycerides
• Low HDL
• Cellular insulin resistance
• Visceral obesity (XS adipose in abdomen)

44% of Americans have metabolic syndrome.

Question 13

What is the Framingham Risk Score?

Answer 13

Gender-specific algorithm used to estimate the 10-year cardiovascular risk of an individual.

Question 14

What are the determinants of health and their contributions to premature death?

Answer 14

1. Behavioral patterns (40%)
2. Genetic predisposition (30%)
3. Social circumstances (15%)
4. Health care (10%)
5. Environmental exposure (5%)