cardiovascular diseases

• coronary heart disease is life threatening
• coronary heart disease is when coronary arteries that supply blood to the muscles of the heart get blocked by layers of fatty material building up
• coronary heart disease


  the fatty layers cause the arteries to become narrow, so blood flow is restricted and theres a lack of oxygen to the heart muscle- this can result in a heart attack
• stents are tubes inserted inside the arteries that keep them open, making sure blood can pass through to the heart muscle. this keeps the persons heart beating
• stents reduce the risk of a heart attack with people that have coronary heart disease and they are effective for a long time and the recovery time from surgery is quick
• however with stents, theres a risk of complications during operation (e.g heart attack) and a risk of infection from surgery. Theres also a risk of patients developing a blood clot near the stent, this is called THROMBOSIS
• cholesterol is an essential lipid your body produces and needs to function properly. However, too much of a certain type of cholestroal (LDL cholesterol) can cause health problems
• having too much bad cholestoral in the blood stream can cause fatty deposits to form inside the arteries, which can lead to coronary heart disease
• STATINS are drugs that can reduce the amount of 'bad' cholestarol present in blood stream. this slows down the rate of fatty deposits forming
• Statin advantage


  by reducing the amount of bad cholesterol in the blood, statins can reduce the risk of strokes, coronary heart disease and heart attacks
• Statin advantage


  can increase rhe amiunt of beneficial type of cholesterol (HDL choleserol) inn bloodstream, reducing the bad cholesterol (LDL cholesterol)
• Statin advantage


  some studies also suggest statin may prevent other diseases
• Statin disadvantage 


  statins are a long term drug that MUST be taken out regulary, so a risk if someone forgets
• Statin disadvantage 


  can cause side effects such as headaches and some are very serious such as memory loss, kidney failure and liver damage
• Statin disadvantage 


  effect of statins isnt instant and takes time for their effect to kick in
• An artificial heart can pump blood around the body
• artificial hearts are mechanical devices that pump blood for a person whose own heart has failed. usually only a temporaral fix to keep a person alive until a donor heart is found or to help the person recover allowing heart to rest and heal. sometimes they're used permantly reducing need for donor heart
• advantage to artificial heart- less liekly to be rejected from bodys immune system because theyre made with metals or plastics, so the body doesnt recognise them as 'foreign' and attack them the same way as it does to living tissue
• the surgery can also cause infection and bleeding. blood clots tho can form by using an artifical heart as the blood deosnt run as smoothly and can lead to strokes. patients have to take drugs to think their blood to prevent this which can cause problems with bleeding if theyre hurt in an accident