Chapter 13: Reducing your risk of Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer Flashcards
What is Hypertension?
Systolic blood pressure is the upper number in the fraction that measures blood pressure, indicating pressure in the walls of the arteries when the heart contracts
o Diastolic blood pressure indicates pressure in the walls of the arteries during the relaxation phase of heart activity
What is Atherosclerosis (CAD-coronary artery disease)
o Arteriosclerosis
o Hyperlipidemia
What is Peripheral artery disease (PAD)?
Atherosclerosis occurring in the lower extremities, such as in the feet, calves, legs, or in the arms
What is Coronary heart disease?
o Greatest killer, causing nearly 1 in every 7 deaths in the U.S
o There are over 580,000 new coronary events and 210,000 reoccurrences each year
§ Brought on by a blood clot in a coronary artery or an atherosclerotic narrowing that blocks an artery
§ When blood does not flow readily, there is a decrease in corresponding oxygen flow
What is Angina pectoris?
o Occurs when there is not enough oxygen to supply the heart muscle, resulting in chest pain or pressure
o Mild causes may be treated with rest
o Drugs can dilate veins and provide pain relief
o Calcium channel blockers can relieve cardiac spasms
o Beta-blockers control potential overactivity of the heart muscle
What is Arrhythmias?
o An irregularity in the heart rhythm that occurs when the electrical impulses that coordinate heartbeats don’t work properly
o Tachycardia is an abnormally fast heartbeat
o Bradycardia is an abnormally slow heartbeat
What is heart failure?
o Congestive heart failure occurs when the heart muscle is damaged or overworked and lacks the strength to keep blood circulating normally through the body, and blood and fluids back up into the lungs and other body tissues
o Fluid accumulation often occurs in the feet, ankles, and legs, and is accompanied by shortness of breath and tiredness
What is a stroke?
o Seven million Americans suffer strokes every year; almost 133,000 people die each year from strokes
o Blood supply to the brain is interrupted
o Transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) are brief interruptions of the blood supply to the brain that cause temporary impairment
§ Symptoms include dizziness, weakness, temporary paralysis, or numbness in face or other regions, temporary memory loss, blurred vision, slurred speech, and others
What are the components of the heart?
o Four chambers
§ Two upper chambers are called atria
§ Two lower chambers are called ventricles
o Valves regulate the flow of blood
What is the function of the heart?
o Deoxygenated blood enters the right atrium
o From the right atrium, blood travels to the right ventricle
o Blood is pumped through the pulmonary artery to the lungs, where it receives oxygen
o Oxygenated blood from the lungs returns to the left atrium of heart
o Blood from the left atrium moves into the left ventricle
o The left ventricle pumps blood through the aorta to all body parts.
What are some modifiable risks?
- Avoid tobacco
- Reduce saturated fat from high-fat meats and dairy to 10% of the daily diet
- Maintain a healthy weight
- Eat a healthy diet: reduce sodium, increase fiber and plant sterols
- Exercise regularly
- Control diabetes
- Control blood pressure
- Manage stress and get more sleep
What are some non modifiable risks?
- Race and ethnicity
- Heredity
- Age
- Gender
Diagnosing and treating cardiovascular diseases.
Weapons for treating cardiovascular disease:
o Statin drugs
§ Chemicals that lower blood cholesterol levels
o Ace inhibitors
o Cause muscles surrounding the heart to contract, thereby lowering blood pressure
o Beta-blockers
o Reduce blood pressure by blocking the effects of epinephrine
o CPR
Techniques:
- Electrocardiogram (ECG)
- Angiography
- Positron emission tomography (PET) scan
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
- Ultrafast computed tomography (CT) scan
- Cardiac calcium score
What is bypass surgery?
Coronary bypass surgery helps patients who suffer from coronary blockages or heart attacks
In bypass surgery, a blood vessel is taken from another site in the patient’s body and implanted to “bypass” blocked coronary arteries
What is an angioplasty?
Angioplasty carries fewer risks and may be more effective in selected cases than bypass surgery
What are stents?
Stents may be inserted to prop open an artery
What is cancer?
Uncontrolled growth and abnormal cellular development results in a neoplasm
Benign tumors are harmless and consist of ordinary-looking cells enclosed in a fibrous shell or capsule that prevents them from spreading
Malignant tumors are not enclosed in a shell and can spread to other organs in a process called metastasis. Malignant cells disrupt RNA and DNA, producing mutant cells
Cancer staging
Cancers are typically staged based on the size of the tumor, how deeply it has penetrated, the number of lymph nodes that are affected, and the degree of metastasis
What causes cancer?
- Acquired (environmental) risks
- Genetic and physiological risks
- Reproductive and hormonal risks
- Obesity and cancer risks
- Inflammation and cancer risks
- Occupational and cancer risks
- Infectious diseases ans cancer.
What are some Acquired (environmental) risks?
- Tobacco use
- Poor nutrition, physical inactivity, and obesity
- Stress and psychosocial risks
- Inflammation, certain infectious agents, certain medical treatments
- Drug and alcohol consumption
- Excessive sun exposure and exposure to carcinogens
- Reproductive and hormonal factors
What are some Genetic and physiological risks?
- Genetic predisposition
- Oncogenes: cancer-causing genes that typically stay dormant but can be activated
- Hereditary disposition
What are some reproductive and hormonal risks?
- reproductive factors on breast and cervical cancers are well documented.
What are some obesity and cancer risks?
- Obesity is a key component in 1 out of 5 cancer deaths
- Numerous other studies support the link between various forms of cancer and obesity
- The higher the BMI, the greater the cancer risk
What are some inflammation and cancer risks?
An emerging theory is that inflammatory responses play a role in cancer development
What are some occupational and environmental risks?
- Exposure to asbestos, nickel, chromate, benzene, arsenic, and vinyl chloride
- Exposure to radioactive substances
- Radiation
- Chemicals in foods
What are some infectious diseases and cancer?
- Hepatitis B and hepatitis C can cause liver cancer
- Human papillomavirus can cause cervical cancer
- Helicobacter Pylori and Stomach cancer
What is Carcinomas cancer?
Epithelial tissues are the most common cancer sites
What is Sarcomas cancer?
Sarcomas occur in the mesodermal or middle layers of tissues such as bones, muscles, and general connective tissues
What is Lymphomas cancer?
Develop in the lymphatic system
What is Lung Cancer?
Symptoms include a persistent cough, blood-streaked sputum, chest pain, and recurrent attacks of pneumonia or bronchitis
Treatment depends on the stage and includes surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation
If the cancer is localized, surgery is the treatment of choice
How to detect cancer?
- The earliest signs can be detected with mammograms, even before lumps are felt
- Regular self-examinations are key
- Symptoms include lumps, thickening, dimpling, skin irritation, distortion, nipple discharge, tenderness, etc.
Treatments for breast cancer?
- Selective estrogen-receptor modulators (SERMs)
- Risk increases with age, includes family history of breast cancer, periods that began early and ended late in life, never having had children, and weight gain after age 18
- Regular exercise can help prevent breast cancer
What is colon and rectal cancer?
- Second most common cancer in men and women
- Risk factors include older age, obesity, family history, and colitis
- Warning signs include blood in the stool and rectal bleeding
- Treatment consists of radiation, chemotherapy or surgery
- Regular exercise, a diet with lots of fruits, vegetables, and grains; limiting consumption of red and processed meats; maintaining a healthy weight; avoiding tobacco, and exercising moderation in alcohol consumption are key prevention strategies
What is skin cancer?
- The most common forms of skin cancer-basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma are treatable
- More lethal: malignant melanoma affect 87,000 annually
- Treatment of skin cancer depends on the type of cancer, its stage, and its location
- New advances in treating melanoma include: targeted therapies and newer surgical, radiation, and chemotherapy regimens
What is Prostate cancer?
- Most frequently diagnosed cancer in American males today, excluding skin cancer, and is the third leading cause of cancer deaths in men after lung cancer
- Symptoms include weak or interrupted urine flow; difficulty starting or stopping urination; urge to urinate frequently; blood in urine or pain in low back, pelvis, or thighs. Many men do not have symptoms in early stages
- Risk factors include age, race, and family history
- Eating more fruit and vegetables, maintain a healthy weight and refrain from smoking may help lower risk
What is ovarian cancer?
- Most common symptoms is enlargement of the abdomen
- Other symptoms include fatigue, pain during intercourse, unexplained weight loss, and changes in bowel or bladder habits. - Risk factors include family history, no children, and the use of fertility drugs
- Prevention: focus on a healthy diet, sleep, stress management, weight control and regular exercise
- Having an annual pelvic exam is also important
What is cervical and endometrial (uterine) cancer?
- Regular Pap tests are crucial for early detection
2. Risk: early onset of intercourse; having multiple partners, unprotected sex, infection with human papillomavirus
What is testicular cancer?
- Average age at diagnosis is 33, however, teens and middle-aged men are often affected
- Cause is unknown
- Men with undescended testicles appear to be at the greatest risk
What is pancreatic cancer?
- Even among those who are diagnosed at the earliest stages, the 5-year survival rate is only 29%
- Tobacco use appears to be a key factor, along with obesity, consumption of high-levels of red meat, a high-fat diet and history of pancreatitis
- Few early symptoms, and no reliable test in its early stages
- By the time it is diagnosed, it is too far advanced to treat
Ways to face cancer:
- the earlier the cancer is diagnosed, the better prospect there is for survival
- practice self-exam and checkups
- several high-tech tools have been developed to help detect cancer
- MRI
- CT scan
What are some cancer treatments?
- Surgery to remove tumor
- Stereotactic radiosurgery, also known as gamma knife surgery
- Chemotherapy
- Radiotherapy
- Researching genes and cell mutations
- Immunotherapy
- Cancer-fighting vaccines
- Stem cell research
