Angina Pectoris

Angina Pectoris Essay Angina PectorisAngina pectoris is a medical condition that literally means a chokedchest. The victim feels acute pain in his chest for a few seconds, and then itgoes away. This occurs when myocardium cells, the muscle portion of your heart,are temporarily denied oxygen. At this stage they do not die, but maybe weakened. If left untreated and the disease continues, a serious condition known asmyocardial infraction or commonly called a heart attack may occur. This canseverely damage the hearts functionality. Which in turn effects our well being. We should be educated about the risks that go along with our cardiovascularsystem. The most common cause of the condition angina pectoris is overconsumption of cholesterol. This chemical is only needed in minute amounts, butis often eaten in every meal. In the body, cholesterol is responsible for thestability of plasma membranes of cells, and hormones are produced from it. Ifconsumed at higher rate then needed it is stored in the tunica interna, theinnermost layer, of blood vessels. As it is stored it starts to build upeventually clogging the vessel. As a result of this all cells feed by thevessel die because of a lack of oxygen. If this condition is found early, itcan be corrected with surgical procedures or, in some minor cases, correctiveprocedures. Surgical procedures include bypass, laser and balloon surgery. Inbypass surgery a vein is removed from the lower leg and a clogged vessel isworked around. Often in type of surgery the whole mid section of the body iscut and the ribs are pulled back, very painful with a very slow recovery. Somehospitals have now imple mented a new technique where only a small hole is madeand everything is done via a view screen. In balloon surgery a balloon isinserted into the vessel with the clog and is inflated. When this occurs thevessel is damaged, this causes the cells to repair the damage and clear the clog. This is not as successful as other surgery techniques and is often done severaltimes before a positive result is seen. Laser surgery is the most recentdevelopment. Here they use a laser to actually scrape the build up from thevessel. This surgery is one of the most expensive surgeries available today. Corrective procedures include changes in lifestyle. These can include foodintake, exercise, and stress-related issues. Food intake is largely the answerto correcting this situation. As shown above excessive intake of cholesterolcan increase the risk of a heart attack. Coupled with excessive salt intake canproduce another problem known as hypertension or commonly called high bloodpressure. This can further increase the risk of a heart attack since the hearthas to work harder to achieve a homeostatic state. Therefore the heart isworking with less efficiency. For example a runners heart may beat 64 times aminute. A person with hypertension heart rate may be 98. The runners heartis working with more efficiency; therefore it does not need to beat as fast asthe person with hypertension. The person with hypertension has a high heartrate since it cannot pump as much blood per contraction. Exercise is anothercorrective procedure prescribed since it increases cardiovascular fitness. Asseen abo ve, cardiovascular fitness can reduce the risk of heart attacks. Stress-related issues can increase blood pressure for unknown reasons andtherefore can also increase the risk of a heart attack. All these factors caninfluence the health of our cardiovascular system therefore care must be takento ensure proper function. This includes handling stress with care, eating, andexercising right.