Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death among women and
men in Europe. It accounts for almost half of all deaths in Europe causing over 4,35
million deaths each year in the 52 member states of the World Health Organization
(WHO) European Region and more than 1.9 million deaths each year.
Cardiovascular disease is also a major cause of disability and a reduced quality of
life.
So far, cardiovascular disease is highly preventable. WHO estimates that
modest population-wide and simultaneous reductions in blood pressure, obesity,
cholesterol and tobacco use would more than halve cardiovascular disease
incidence.
Cardiovascular disease mortality, incidence and fatalities are falling in most
Northern, Southern and Western European countries but either not falling as fast or
rising in Central and Eastern European countries.
Although the European Union is experiencing flagging rates of mortality from
cardiovascular disease, there are an increasing number of men and women living
with cardiovascular disease. This irony relates to increasing longevity and improved
survival of people with cardiovascular disease.
The burden of cardiovascular disease is killing more people than all cancers
combined (with a higher percentage of women (55% of all fatal deaths) even than
men (43% of all fatal deaths)1 and a higher mortality among men and women with a
lower socio-economic position.

The well-known, main risk factors for cardiovascular disease are tobacco use
and raised blood pressure and blood cholesterol, factors directly related to individual
lifestyle and eating habits as well as physical activity levels. Other factors associated
with cardiovascular disease include overweight and obesity, diabetes mellitus,
excessive alcohol consumption and psychosocial stress. Lacking of exercise and
wrongly eating habit are factor that is very possible why the heart disease come to
fatal and worse.
Atherosclerotic vascular disease is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in
people with diabetes mellitus. Diabetes is associated with a two to three-fold increased
risk of coronary heart disease in men and a four to five-fold increase in pre-menopausal
women.
The risk conferred by diabetes is independent of and additional to the other
major risk factors,Smoking,Hypertension,Hyperlipidaemia,Microalbuminuria or
proteinuria,Obesity, and adverse family history.
Agina pectoris if affected to a person,that individual may not exhibit any
symptoms under resting condition.Acute pain in the chest occurs during strenous
physical exercise or emotional sterss.The narrowing coronary artery may supply
suffucient oxygen and nutrient laden blood to the cardiac muscles during normal
activities but is unable to supply adquate blood needed for increased activities.
Hypertension is occured when blood pressure is the force of the blood exerted
on the walls of the blood vessels.Arterial blood pressure is the highest during ventricular
systole and lowest during diastole.It result from gradual increase in the resistance to
blood flow through the arteries.This may be due to the narrowing of the artery lumen
and reduced elasticity.The heart has to pump harder to force the blood
through.Overtime, blood pressure is 120(systolic/80diastolic)mm Hg.However for a
person who has hypertensi, gives measurement of blood pressure ≥140
(systolic/90diastolic) mm Hg and reading of 160/95 is considered dangerous.
Arteriosclerosis refer to a group of cardiovascular disorders that have in
common, the thickenig ,hardening and loss of elasticity of arterial walls.There are three
main forms of arteriosclorisis (usually characterised by the formotion of atheromatous
plaque).Monckeberg’s medical clacific sclerosis (clacification of the media layer of
muscular arteris).Arteriolosclerosis (proliferative or hyaline thickening of the wall of
small arteries and arterioles) .
Heart attack, as the coronary artery becomes more blocked, there is insufficient
supply of oxygenated blood to the cardiac muscle. That region of the muscle dies
resulting in a heart attack. If only small area of muscle dies, the person can recover.
However, extensive cardiac muscle damage can cause death.
A prevention can be takes, by applying a balanced diet low in saturated fats and
cholesterol, sufficient anti-oxidant vitamins (A,C and E),fruits ,green leafy vegetable and
soluble fibres may be protective against cardiovascular disease.
 Vitamin B6 ,B12 and folic acid help to prevent an elevated level of homocysteine
in the blood an decrease the risk of atherosclerosis, blood clots in vessels and strokes.
Regular moderate exercise, maintaining a proper weight and not smoking also
helps to reduce hypertension and the occurrence of heart attacks.
A treatment can be taken especially medical treatment such as the use of drugs
for example beta blocking drugs(antihypertensive drug).t-PA (tissue plasminogen
activator, to dissolve blood clots) and drugs to lower blood cholesterol level.
Balloon angioplasty and coronary bypass operation are also available to control
cardiovascular disease.
A heart transplant may be advice for a badly damage heart and where all other
treatment are unsuccessful .However demand greatly exceeds the availability of donor
hearts.

As part of its legal concern to carry out research in the area of women’s health,
in 2008 the Women’s Health Council commissions an Omnibus Survey to investigate
various health issues, including awareness of cardiovascular risk among women and
men.
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