Non-communicable diseases

Question 1

What happens in coronary heart disease?

Answer 1

layers of fatty material build up inside the coronary arteries narrowing them

this reduces blood flow through the coronary arteries resulting in a lack of oxygen for the heart muscle - this can result in a heart attack

Question 2

what are examples of treatments of coronary heart disease?

Answer 2

stents and statins

Question 3

what do stents do?

Answer 3

keeps the coronary arteries open

Question 4

What are the pros and cons of stents?

Answer 4

pros :

• lowers the risk of a heart attack
• effective for a long time
• recovery time from surgery is relatively quick

cons :

• risk of complications during the operation
• risk of infection from surgery
• risk of patients developing blood clot near stents (thrombosis)

Question 5

what do statins do?

Answer 5

reduces blood cholesterol ( the bad one) and slows down the rate of fatty material deposit

Question 6

What are the pros and cons of statins?

Answer 6

Pros:

• reduces the risk of strokes, coronary heart disease and heart attacks
• increases the amount of beneficial type of cholesterol

Cons :

• long term drug that must be taken regularly- the risk of someone forgetting to take them
• can cause negative side effects: headache or serious: kidney failure, liver damage and memory loss
• takes time for their effect to kick in

Question 7

What could faulty valves be replaced with?

Answer 7

biological or mechanical valves

Question 8

Pros and cons of biological and mechanical valves

Answer 8

• less drastic procedure than a whole recent transplant
• biological valves (e.g. cows or pigs) workers very well but only lasts for 12-15yrs
• mechanical valves last for a long time but constant medication is needed to stop blood from clotting around the valve

Question 9

what could be done in the case of heart failure?

Answer 9

• a donor heart can be transplanted
• artificial hearts can be used to keep patients alive while waiting for a heart transplant or to allow the heart to recover

Question 10

What are the pros and cons of artificial hearts?

Answer 10

Pros :
- less likely to be rejected by the immune system as metal and plastic are not recognised as foreign

Cons :

• surgery can lead to bleeding and infection
• because it is mechanical, part of it could wear out and the motor fail
• blood clots could form, leading to strokes
• to prevent the blood from clotting, patients have to take drugs to thin their blood, which can cause problems with bleeding if they are heart in an accident

Question 11

what is a casual mechanism

Answer 11

the process by which a cause brings about an effect

Question 12

What are anti-cogulants?

What are antihypertensive drugs?

Answer 12

drugs that reduce blood clotting

Antihypertensive drugs lower BP, reducing the risk of damage to the epithelial wall. This reduces the chance of an inflammatory response from macrophages. Subsequently, there is a reduced risk of plaque formation and blood clots that might lead to stroke and/or heart attack.