Cardiovascular Disease
This lesson covers:
- What 'cardiovascular disease' is
- What 'coronary heart disease' is
- How statins and stents can be used to treat coronary heart disease
- The causes of, and treatments for, faulty heart values
- What 'heart failure' is, and how we can treat it
Anticoagulants Anticoagulants (such as Warfarin) are medicines that help prevent blood clots, which makes heart attacks and strokes less likely. |
A downside though is that blood clotting is sometimes helpful. For example if a blood vessel breaks then we need the blood to clot in order to stop blood loss. This means that a side effect of anticoagulants can be excessive bleeding. |
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Antihypertensives
Antihypertensives are medicines that lower blood pressure. This reduces the risk of atheroma/fatty plaques and blood clots forming.
They can cause side effects though, such as headaches or fainting.
Cardiovascular disease refers to diseases of the cardiovascular (circulatory) system.
Which three of the following make up the cardiovascular system?
Brain
Lungs
Heart
Blood vessels
Blood
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Which chemical process supplies the majority of the energy required for the contraction of muscle tissue?
Aerobic respiration
Photosynthesis
Active transport
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Coronary heart disease
oxygen / heart / oxygenated / deoxygenated / fatty / narrower / wider / blood
- Coronary arteries branch out of the aorta and supply blood to the muscle.
- In coronary heart disease, layers of material build up inside the coronary arteries, causing the lumen to get .
- This reduces the flow of through the coronary arteries, resulting in a lack of and nutrients for the heart muscle.
- This can cause chest pain as the heart muscle is starved of oxygen, and in severe cases, can cause a heart attack.
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The fatty material that builds up in coronary arteries is sometimes known as fatty plaques.
Which of the following are treatments for coronary heart disease?
(Select all that apply)
Chemotherapy
Statins
Stent
Antibiotics
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How does a stent help treat coronary heart disease?
It stimulates the growth of new arteries
It removes the fatty material from the artery
It expands within the artery to widen the lumen
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What are the benefits of stents when treating coronary artery disease?
(Select all that apply)
There is a risk of thrombosis (blood clot)
The stents can last a long time
The stents have an almost immediate effect
Surgery has a risk of complications
Surgery is quick
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How do statins help treat coronary heart disease?
(Select all that apply)
They decrease the amount of HDL cholesterol in the blood
They increase the amount of HDL cholesterol in the blood
They increase the amount of LDL cholesterol in the blood
They decrease the amount of LDL cholesterol in the blood
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What are the disadvantages of statins when treating coronary artery disease?
(Select all that apply)
No surgery is required
It can take months to see the positive effects
The pills have to be taken every day
They have side effects such as kidney failure and headaches
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What are two problems that may be caused by faulty heart valves?
Blood gets deoxygenated as it passed through the valve
Blood can pass backwards through the valve
Not enough blood can pass though the valve
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Faulty heart valves can be replaced. valves come from other animals such as pigs or cows. Meanwhile valves are man-made, often from metal.
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Which of the following are treatments for heart failure?
(Select all that apply)
Replacement with biological heart
Replacement with artificial heart
Statins
Dialysis
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Which type of heart replacement might be rejected by the immune system?
Biological heart
Artificial heart
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