Cardiovascular disease Flashcards
How can cardiovascular disease be treated?
medication
surgery
making lifestyle changes
lifestyle changes
- give up smoking
- take more exercise
- eat a healthier diet (lower fat, sugar and salt)
- lose weight
advantages and disadvantages of lifestyle changes
- no side effects
- may reduce chances of getting other health conditions
- cheapest
-takes time to work or may not work effectively
medication
if lifestyle changes, medication such as betablockers are prescribed to reduce blood pressure
these block adrenaline and noradrenaline from being released, as it causes the heart to beat faster and increases blood pressure
advantages and disadvantages of medication
- starts working immediately
- easy to do
- cheaper and less risky than surgery
- need to be taken long term and can have side effects
- may not work well with other medications the person is taking
surgery
if an artery becomes narrowed, the drop in blood flow can cause damage to tissue beyond the blockage
a wire frame, called a stent, is inserted into the narrowed part of the artery, increasing its width
heart by-pass surgery
a new blood vessel is inserted to by-pass coronary arteries
What happens if blood supply to the heart muscle is reduced?
the heart muscle cells can’t get enough oxygen for respiration
the cells die and the person has a heart attack
advantages and disadvantages of surgery
-usually a long term solution
- there is a risk the person will not recover after the operation
- expensive
- more difficult to do than giving medication
- risk the person will develop an infection after surgery
In a study of patients with narrowed coronary arteries, one group exercised and was given medicine, while a similar group exercised, took medication and had a stent inserted into the narrowed artery.
In the without group, 202 out of 1092 patients died of a heart attack within 5 years
In the with group, 211 out of 1111 died of a heart attack within 5 years
Evaluate whether these results suggest that stent surgery is worth doing [3]
the percentage of deaths was 18.5% in the group without stents, and 19% for the group with stents
this is not a big difference with such a large sample size
this suggests that stent surgery is not worth doing if other treatments are carried out at the same time
Surgery is only carried out if the person has serious heart disease and other treatments will not work
Explain why [2]
there is always a risk that the person might not recover
expensive
takes time to recover
risk of infection
