Cardiovascular Disease

The human body is composed of several systems which work together to achieve optimal functions and status. One of the critical systems is the cardiovascular system, which is concerned with blood circulation within the body. In terms of pathology, various pathological conditions have a predilection for the cardiovascular system. This paper provides a brief overview of cardiovascular disease and its management.           

Causes of cardiovascular disease

The precise cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD)is not yet clearly known. However, many things upsurge the risk of developing it. These risk factors include smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, inactivity, obesity, and family history. Smoking is a major risk factor for CVD. Tobacco substances such as nicotine and carbon monoxide narrow the blood vessels. Furthermore, high cholesterol causes blood vessels to narrow, increasing the chances of one developing blood clots. High blood pressure damages the blood vessels by making them less elastic, decreasing blood and oxygen flow (NHS, 2018). Further, not exercising regularly increases one’s risk of having high cholesterol, being overweight, and having high blood pressure, which are CVD risk factors. Other risk factors include obesity, diet, alcohol consumption, ethnic background, age, and gender (NHS, 2018).

CVD kills over eight hundred thousand Americans each year, which makes it a health concern for the country (CDC, 2019). Besides that, over seventeen million people die each year from it, making it also a health concern globally. It is among the top cause of death globally. More than four out of five CVD deaths are a result in strokes and heart attacks, and a third of these deaths happen prematurely in persons below seventy years (World Health Organization, 2019). Furthermore, according to the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP), CVD takes an economic toll and costs the US health care system over two hundred billion dollars every year and causes over one hundred and thirty billion dollars in lost productivity on the job (CDC, 2019). To prevent or reduce the risk factors of CVD, people need to live a healthy lifestyle by having a balanced diet that includes plenty of foods and vegetables, low levels of salt, saturated fats, and sugar. Moreover, people need to exercise regularly to maintain a healthy weight, stop smoking, cut down on alcohol and take medications.

Relationship Between CVD, Diet, and Exercise

Improving one’s heart health is not problematic when one knows what to eat and how to exercise. Food affects a person’s weight, the health of organs, including the heart and hormones. One needs to choose healthy fats such as omega-3 fats found in fish, prepare meat healthfully by roasting and baking and choose low-fat dairies such as low-fat or fat-free versions of cheese, yogurt and milk products. On the other hand, people should limit themselves from added sugars such as sodas, energy drinks, ice creams, and sweetened coffee. Moreover, they should stop eating saturated and trans fats foods such as whole-milk dairy, frozen pizza, and fatty meats. Also, foods with sodium should be avoided. These are flavor foods and spices such as sauces, prepackaged foods, and processed foods. Lastly, people should limit their alcohol intake. All these unhealthy diets affect blood cholesterol levels and lead to weight gain, which raises blood pressure, contributing to CVDS (Casas et al., 2018).

On the other, being overweight puts extra stress on the heart. Exercises make the heart robust, and this assists it to pump more blood with every heartbeat. This supplies enough oxygen throughout the body, making the body function more efficiently. Exercises usually reduce “bad” cholesterol (LDL). Bad cholesterol can obstruct the arteries causing CVD. Moreover, exercise usually increases the levels of “good” cholesterol (HDL), which reduces CVD risk by carrying fat deposits out of the arteries. When exercise is combined with a healthy diet, it hastens weight loss (World Health Organization., 2019).

Analysis of Own Personal Lifestyle Choices

According to my BMI assignment, I realized that I am within a range considered to be healthy. However, this does not mean that I am not at risk of cardiovascular disease. My lifestyle is one factor that can predispose me to cardiovascular disease. For instance, I noticed that I consume sizeable amounts of fast foods from my fast-food nutrition exercise. When consumed over time, fast foods can pose a significant risk to cardiovascular disease. The nutritional analysis and sugar assignments also point to me being at risk of cardiovascular disease. I realized that I consume foods with a lot of sugars, a habit that may ultimately give way to cardiovascular disease.

Lifestyle Changes

I have realized the importance of making lifestyle changes tailored towards reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease in my life. The most critical changes will be observing my diet and engaging in exercises. These changes will have positive results and help me live a healthy lifestyle. Observing healthy dietary changes will go a long way in reducing fats in the body and other harmful substances.

Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility

Workouts being among my ways to decrease the risk of developing CVD, I decided to invite a friend with who we reside in the same neighborhood to do workouts with. I chose the friend because we get along well and are free to talk about our health issues. To encourage my friend to participate in the workouts, I shared the information about CVD being a health concern in the US and even globally and the many people it kills every year and that exercises are great prevention of CVD. After sharing this information, they were eager and willing to do the workouts despite their age, socioeconomic background, and ethnic background. If persons encourage each other to be active, the nation would have a healthier population, and CVD cases would be low therefore saving a lot of healthcare costs and increasing people’s productivity. To encourage people to participate in physical activities, there needs to be a promotion of exercises and community events through mass media campaigns. Moreover, there need to be free exercise classes in public areas to target the population with lower incomes and those that are less likely to manage the suggested amount of exercise.