Chronic Illness: Coronary Heart Disease
Outline of Coronary Heart Disease
The Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) has been on the increase of late across the globe and this disease, alongside stroke have been the top causes of death in many countries like Australia (Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, 2017). There have been cases of people succumbing to complications occasioned by the CHD hence the need for any medic or clinician to fully furnish themselves with the CHD and the causes and effects as well as how it can be managed.
CHD is a disuse characterized by the development of a waxy substance called plaque building up in the inner walls of the coronary arteries. These are the arteries responsible for supplying oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscles. The buildup of plaque on the inner walls of the arteries results into atherosclerosis and this takes many years to pile up to harmful quantities. Over the years of continued buildup, the plaque can harden or rupture/break up. The hardened plaque narrows the coronary arteries and reduces significantly the amount of oxygen-rich blood that goes through the heart. In the event that the plaque raptures or breaks up, then there can be blood clot forming around it. The consequence of a large blood clot can be a partially or completely blocked blood flow through the artery. The raptures plaques can also harden again, consequently narrowing the coronary artery (American Heart Association, 2014).
In the event that the flow of oxygenated blood to the heart muscle is significantly reduced heart attack or angina can result. Angina is defined as some sharp chest pain or discomfort which may manifest in the form of squeezing or pressure in the chest cavity. The pain can be experienced in the shoulders, neck, back, arms and the jaws. The angina pain may even manifest in a manner feeling like indigestion (Cleveland Clinic, 2017).
On the other hand, heart attack will occur in the incident that the flow of highly oxygenated blood is blocked from a section of the heart muscles. In such a case, there is need for the flow of blood to be restored as fast as is practicable, if this is not done, then the heart muscles start to atrophy. In the event of delayed treatment, then the heart attack can escalate to more serious health complications or even death (Mayo Clinic, 2017).
Over a long period...
Heart failure is experienced when the heart cannot pump sufficient to the body to meet the demand of the body for normal functioning. Arrhythmia is a complication resulting from the rhythm or the rate of the heartbeat.
It is also worth noting that the clot can block the blood vessels to the brain, then there can be ischemic stroke experienced by the patient. In the event that a vessel within the
brain bursts due to increased or high blood pressure or what is referred to as uncontrolled hypertension, then hemorrhagic stroke may be experienced.
There are some
risk factors that are linked to CHD such as
smoking, the male gender, diabetes, high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, physical inactivity, excess weight, unhealthy eating, increasing age, high resting heart rate,
kidney disease,
depression and stress,
family history of heart disease (Southern Cross, 2017).
CHD is diagnosed by first knowing the
symptoms, risk factors and the
medical history. The doctor can make physical examination, then run diagnostics including electrocardiogram, echocardiogram, electron beam CT scan, exercise
stress test, cardiac catheterization among other tests. These are the tests that will enable the doctor to how far the heart disease has gone hence determine the best
treatment for each individual case (WebMd, 2017).
There are several ways through which CHD can be managed, these include change in
lifestyle for instance stopping smoking, avoiding processed food, low fat foods,…
