Diet and health

• How can diuretics reduce blood pressure


  • Increases urine production
  • So decreases blood volume
  • Less pressure in blood vessels
  • Less damage to artery walls
• How can a high fat diet increase CVD


  • Increases blood cholesterol
  • So increases athroma formation, therefore thrombosis
• How can high blood pressure lead to CVD


  • Damage to artery walls
  • Atheroma formation
  • Can lead to a blood clot so heart has to work harder to pump blood
• How can smoking increase risk of CVD


  Carbon monoxide binds with haemoglobin in blood cells

  So reduces its oxygen carrying oxygen

  This decreases respiration in the brain and the heart so increased risk of stroke and heart attack

  • Nicotine increases agglutination of platelets so increased risk of thrombosis
• how do antihypertentives work and name examples

  • reduce blood pressure
  • lessens the risk of damage to the endothelial lining
  • beta blockers, diuretics, vasodilators
• how do statins work

  •  lowering blood cholesterol 
  • lowers the LDL concentration in the blood therefore reducing the risk of atheroma formation
• how do anticoagulants work

   reduce blood clotting

  • Reduced formation of blood clots decreases the likelihood of thrombosis 
  • therefore reduces the risk of blood vessels being blocked by blood clots
• how do platelet inhibitors work

  reduce platelets clumping together

  reducing blood clotting
• benefits and risks associated with antihypertensives

  • reduce blood pressure
  • blood pressure can be monitored at home to check if drugs are working
  • can be combined for maximum effectiveness

  but can cause nausea and dizziness and muscle cramps
• benefits and risks associated with statins

  • reduce ldl levels in blood
  • also increase hdl levels which further removes ldl

  but can -

  • take a while to become effective
  • need to be taken long term to become effective
  • side effects include muscle pain and liver damage
• benefits and risks of anticoagulants

  • reduce the change of blood clotting
  • can reduce size and growth of existing blood clots

  but can

  • cause excessive bleeding if injury occurs
  • can damage foetus if taken
  • side effects include fainting and oesteoporosis
• benefits and risks of platelet inhibitors

  • reduce the formation of blood clots

  but can

  • cause excessive bleeding if injury occurs
  • can cause side effects such as rashes and liver dysfunction
  • combining more than one type of drug can cause harmful side effects
• why do people gain weight

  • If energy intake is higher than the energy output excess energy will be converted into fats by the body so the person will gain weight
• why do people lose weight

  • If energy intake is less than energy output the body will need to take energy from elsewhere and fat reserves will be converted into energy, the person will lose weight
• how can perception of risk be overestimated

  • Misleading information in the media
  • Overexposure to information
  • Personal experience of the associated risk
  • Unfamiliarity with the event
  • The event causing severe harm
• how can perception of risk be underestimated

  • Lack of information 
  • Misunderstanding of factors that increase the risk
  • A lack of personal experience of the associated risk
  • Unfamiliarity with the event
  • The harm being non-immediate