Organisation: Cardiovascular diseases

Question 1

What are 2 examples of cardiovascular diseases?

Answer 1

• heart failure
• damaged valves

Question 2

What are cardiovascular diseases?

Answer 2

Diseases of the heart and blood vessels

Question 3

What is heart failure?

Answer 3

Where the heart is unable to pump blood around the body

Question 4

How can heart failure be treated?

Answer 4

heart replacement

Question 5

What are the 2 options for heart replacement?

Answer 5

• biological heart
• artificial heart

Question 6

What are artificial hearts used for?

Answer 6

to keep patients alive whilst waiting for a heart transplant or too allow a patient’s heart to rest to help it recover

Question 7

What is an advantage of artificial hearts?

Answer 7

• dont need to wait a long time for a donor so can keep patients alive whilst they wait
• won’t be rejected

Question 8

What are the disadvantages of biological hearts?

Answer 8

• need to find a donor which may take a long time
• risk of rejection and patient will have to take immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of their life which also increases their risk infection

Question 9

What does it mean if valves are damaged?

Answer 9

They could either be too stiff and so not enough blood can get past or they may not close properly leading to back flow of blood

Question 10

How can damaged valves be treated?

Answer 10

They can be replaced with biological or mechanical valves

Question 11

What are the risks with mechanical valves?

Answer 11

• blood clots - anti-blood clotting drugs may need to be taken
• requires surgery which has risks such as heart attacks or infection

Question 12

What are the risks of biological valves?

Answer 12

• may wear out
• requires surgery which has risks such as heart attacks or infection

Question 13

What are the advantages of replacement heart valves?

Answer 13

they restore blood flow through the heart