Cardiovascular diseases

• Cardiovascular Disease


  A disease affecting the heart and blood vessels
• Coronary heart disease


  • When the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle get blocked by a build-up of fatty materials, causing the arteries to narrow and restrict blood flow and oxygen to the heart muscle, which can lead to a heart attack
• Stents


  Tubes inserted inside arteries to keep them open and allow blood to pass through to the heart muscle
• Stents


  • Keep the heart beating
  • Lower heart attack risk for people with coronary heart disease
• Stents


  • Pros: effective, can be used long-term
  • Cons: risk of infection, risk of blood clots near stent
• Statins


  A drug that reduces cholesterol in the blood
• Cholesterol


  • An essential lipid needed for bodily function
  • LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) causes health problems when too high in the bloodstream, leading to fatty deposits forming in arteries and causing coronary heart disease
• Statins


  • Reduce the amount of LDL cholesterol, slowing down the formation of fatty deposits
• Statins


  • Advantages: reduce risk of strokes, coronary heart disease and heart attacks, increase 'good' cholesterol, may prevent other diseases
  • Disadvantages: long-term drug use, some negative side effects (headaches), serious side effects (kidney failure, memory loss)
• The effect of statins isn't instant
• Cardiovascular disease


  Biological or mechanical ways to replace the valves in the heart that can be damaged or weakened by heart attacks, infection or old age
• Valve damage


  1. Valve becomes leaky or won't open properly

  2. Blood slows in the wrong direction

  3. Severe damage treated by replacing valves
• Valve replacements


  • Biological valves (from other animals or humans)
  • Mechanical valves (man-made)
• Replacing a valve is a much less drastic procedure than a whole heart transplant
• Replacing a valve can still cause issues with blood clotting
• Artificial blood


  Used in emergencies when there is a shortage of blood or the heart is not pumping enough
• Artificial blood

  • Saline solution used to replace lost volume of blood
  • Can keep people alive even if 2/3 of blood cells are lost
  • May give patient enough time to produce new blood cells
• Artificial blood would ideally replace the function of lost blood cells, meaning no need for blood transfusions
• Scientists are currently working on products to do this