C2. Cardiovascular disease (CVD)

Question 1

What is cardiovascular disease?

Answer 1

It is a term given to classify a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels (mainly consists of hypertension/high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, and stroke)

Question 2

What is a major cause of CHD and stroke?

Answer 2

Atherosclerosis

Question 3

What is atherosclerosis?

Answer 3

Hardening of the arteries due to the accumulation plaque (made up of cholesterol and other substances) in the walls of arteries
- pieces of plaque can break arteries
- if a block occurs in a coronary circulation (blood supply heart) this leads to heart attack
- if the blockage occurs in a blood vessel in the brain –> stroke

Question 4

Outline the coronary circulation

Answer 4

Coronary circulation: how blood transfers through heart & how blood supplies itself
- left and right coronary arteries
- circumflex artery
- left anterior descending artery
(BE ABLE TO LABEL THESE)

Question 5

List the major risk factors for cardiovascular disease (modifiable)

Answer 5

• physical inactivity
• cigarette smoking
• high blood pressure (hypertension)
• high cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol
• low HDL cholesterol
• diabetes
• obesity

Question 6

List the major risk factors for cardiovascular disease (non-modifiable)

Answer 6

• age
• gender
• ethnicity
• family history

Question 7

What is HDL cholesterol?

Answer 7

Plays an important role in removing excess cholesterol from the body in a process termed “reverse cholesterol transport”

Question 8

Explain the concept of risk factors in cardiovascular disease

Answer 8

Can be sometimes clustered together. Clustering three or more factors together is sometimes called metabolic syndrome. Major components (high triglyceride - blood fat and low levels of HDL-Cholesterol, impaired glucose regulation or diabetes (particular abdominal obesity) - can increase the risk of CVD

Question 9

What are the four ways in which exercise may lower the risk of CHD?

Answer 9

• may have direct effects on the heart; increasing the size of the coronary arteries and making them less likely to get blocked
• improves endothelial function which means that arteries are able to vasodilate (open up) on demand to increase blood supply
• helps to prevent obesity thus reducing the risk of blood clots forming
• major positive effect of exercise is helping to maintain high levels of protective high density cholesterol (HDL)

Question 10

How does a lifestyle of physical inactivity increase the risk of cardiovascular disease?

Answer 10

People who are physically inactive are more likely to have risk factors for CHD, high blood pressure, obesity, type 2 diabetes, low HDL cholesterol –> increases risk of CHD