Cohort Follow-Up Studies: Cardiovascular Disease (cvd)

Running head:  Cohort Follow-Up Studies

ASSIGNMENT 2: COHORT FOLLOW-UP STUDIES: CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE (CVD)

HSA 535: Managerial Epidemiology

August 17, 2015

INTRODUCTION

Cardiovascular disease is an illness that involves the blood vessels (veins, arteries and capillaries), the heart or both.  It affects the cardiovascular system.  Atherosclerosis is a condition in which the arteries become narrowed and hardened because of an excessive plaque build-up around the artery wall.  It blocks the flow of blood to the body and causing serious complications in the cardiovascular system.  This condition causes blood clots that can cause life-threatening problems which include heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular diseases.  It affects the entire artery tree but mainly the larger high-pressure arteries.   This makes the arteries become narrow and the flow of blood through the arteries becomes hard. This can lead to a heart attack or stroke.  A heart attack develops when the blood flow to a part of the heart is blocked causing that part of the heart muscle to die (www.medicalnewstoday).

A heart attack is not necessarily a death sentence.  A heart attack means that blood supply was lost because a coronary artery had a clot. It means that part of the heart dies and becomes weaker and will not supply as much blood as it should.  

A stroke is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. in which one person dies every four minutes.  More than 800,000 people suffer from a stroke each year.  When blood supply to the brain is blocked or a blood vessel in the brain ruptures is causes an individual to have a stroke.  Immediate medical attention is necessary should this occur.  There are three types of strokes: ischemic stroke are the most common and are caused when the arteries connected to the brain are blocked or narrowed.  This results when blow flow is severely reduced.  The blockages are caused by blood clots which are formed in the arteries connected to the brain or they come from further away but are swept through the bloodstream into the narrower arteries within the brain; hemorrhagic strokes are caused by arteries in the brain leaking blood or bursting open.  This puts pressure on the brain cells and damages them.  This can be caused by hypertension, trauma or blood thinning medications and aneurysms which are weaknesses in blood vessel walls; and finally, transient ischemic attack (TIA).  These strokes are difference from the above mentioned strokes because the flow of blood to the brain is only a temporary disruption and last for a short period of time.  They are similar in that they are caused by blood clots or other debris and are considered a medical emergency as with the other strokes even though the blockage is temporary.  This is a warning sign that future strokes may occur and indicate that there is a possibility that an artery is partially block or that there is a clot somewhere in the heart (www.medicalnewstoday).  Other cardiac (heart) related diseases include angina, arrhythmia, congenital heart disease, coronary artery disease, dilated cardiomyopathy, heart failure, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, mitral regurgitation, mitral valve prolapse and pulmonary stenosis.  Other vascular diseases which affect blood vessels – arteries, veins or capillaries include: peripheral artery (arterial disease), aneurism, renal artery disease, Raynaud’s disease, Buerger’s disease, peripheral venous disease, venous blood clots and blood clotting disorders.