Treating Cardiovascular Disease Flashcards

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What is meant by cardiovascular disease (CVD)?

Cardiovascular disease is any disease of the heart or blood vessels, for example when fatty deposits build up in coronary arteries and reduce blood flow to the heart.

How can changes to diet and exercise help someone with cardiovascular disease?

Eating a balanced, low-fat diet and doing regular exercise can lower blood pressure and blood cholesterol. This reduces further damage to arteries and lowers the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

What are statins used for in treating cardiovascular disease?

Statins are drugs that lower the level of harmful cholesterol in the blood, slowing the build-up of fatty deposits in arteries and reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Give one advantage and one disadvantage of using life-long medicines such as statins to treat cardiovascular disease.

Advantage: they can reduce the chance of a heart attack or stroke without surgery. Disadvantage: they must be taken every day for life and can cause side effects, such as muscle pain.

What is an angioplasty with a stent and how does it help treat coronary heart disease?

In angioplasty, a small balloon is put into a narrowed artery and then inflated to widen it. A metal mesh tube called a stent is left in place to keep the artery open, so more blood can reach the heart muscle.

What is a coronary bypass operation?

In a coronary bypass operation, a healthy blood vessel from another part of the body is attached to the heart to go around a blocked coronary artery, creating a new route for blood to reach the heart muscle.

Give one advantage and one disadvantage of surgical treatments such as stents or bypass operations for cardiovascular disease.

Advantage: they can quickly restore blood flow to the heart and give major relief from symptoms. Disadvantage: they involve major surgery, which carries risks such as infection, blood clots and a long recovery time.

What is a heart transplant and when might it be used to treat cardiovascular disease?

A heart transplant is when a diseased heart is removed and replaced with a healthy donor heart. It may be used when the patient's heart is badly damaged and other treatments no longer work.

Why might doctors also recommend medicines that lower blood pressure or reduce clotting for people with cardiovascular disease?

These medicines make it easier for blood to flow through the arteries and make clots less likely to form, which lowers the risk of further heart attacks or strokes.

Why is it often best to treat cardiovascular disease using both lifestyle changes and medical treatments?

Lifestyle changes, such as diet and exercise, tackle the causes of the disease, while medicines or surgery treat its effects, so using both together usually gives the greatest long-term benefit to the patient.