cardiovascular disease

• coronary heart disease is when the coronary arteries get blocked by fatty deposits
• coronary heart diseases causes the arteries to become narrow, so blood flow is restricted
• stents keep arteries open
• stents are tubes inserted inside arteries. they keep them open, making sure blood can pass through to the heart muscles
• stents are a way of lowering the risk of a heart attack in people with coronary heart disease
• stents are useful because they are effective for a long time and the recovery time from surgery is relatively quick
• the bad part about stents is that there is a risk of complications during the operation and there is a risk of infection from surgery. there is also a risk of patients developing a thrombus near the stent
• statins reduce cholesterol in the blood
• there are to types of cholesterol in the body: LDL and HDL
• LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol is harmful
• HDL (high-density lipoprotein) is useful
• having too much LDL cholesterol can lead to coronary heart disease
• the advantages of statins are: they reduce the risk of strokes, CHD and heart attacks ; they increase the amount of HDL choleserol and they may even prevent some diseases
• the disadvantages of statins are: they are a long-term drug ; they can have negative side effects and their effect isn't instant
• an artificial heart can be used to pump blood around the body
• if a patient has heart failure, doctors may perform a heart transplant
• artificial hearts are mechanical devices that pump blood around the body
• artificial hearts can be more useful as they are less likely to be rejected by the body
• faulty heart valves can be replaced with mechanical valves or biological valves
• when somebody loses a lot of blood, their heart can pump the remaining red blood cells around as long as the volume of their blood can be topped up
• artificial blood is a blood substitute, e.g. saline