Cardiovascular Disease: Atherosclerosis and Hypertension

Hypertension is predominantly a major problem for African Americans whose occurrence percentages are amongst the highest in the world (Heckler, Lambert, Leventhal, Leventhal, Jahn, & Contrada, 2008). Even though there have been meaningful progress in treatment of hypertension, the number of patients with well managed high blood pressure condition remain worryingly low, with the latest trends suggesting a high rise in the number of uncontrolled high blood pressure cases. This is

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines High Blood Pressure as the force of blood pushing against the walls of your arteries, which carry blood from your heart to other parts of your body. Blood pressure normally rises and falls throughout the day. But if it stays high for a long time, it can damage your heart and lead to health problems. High blood pressure raises your risk for heart disease and stroke, which are leading causes of death in the United States. One out of every three adults over the age of twenty- that’s nearly eighty million Americans have high blood pressure. What’s more interesting is that nearly twenty percent don’t even know they don’t have it. Consequently, African American suffer more from this disease than any other race. According to the American Heart Association, forty percent of African American men and women have high blood pressure (AHA, 2016). Notably, adults twenty years and older consist of 42.6 percent are men and 47.0 percent are women that have this illness. For years’ researchers, have tried to understand why High Blood Pressure affect the African American at a higher rate than others. As a

Hypertension is a major health condition which affects many Americans. This health condition may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. A normal blood pressure consists of systolic blood pressure divided by diastolic blood pressure, 120/80mmHg (millimeters of mercury). High blood pressure is defined as systolic pressure which is greater than 140mm Hg, and diastolic pressure which is over 90mm Hg. Hypertension influences the health outcomes of black Americans more than other races in the United States. Racial discrimination and socioeconomic status are two major factors which influence the rate of high blood pressure in the black American population.

Hypertension is one degenerative disease that is prevalent among African Americans. African Americans are also known to be affected to this more than the American majority. First of all, Hypertension, which is also known as high blood pressure, is a serious medical condition in which the force of blood pumping through the arteries is too strong (Eisenberg, 2012). The heart is the organ in your body that pushes out blood to the arteries, and if it is too hard, the blood pressure will rise (Eisenberg, 2012). Approximately 40% of African Americans in the United States are known to have high blood pressure (High Blood Pressure and African Americans, 2014). These statistics shows that almost half of the total population is dealing with this condition.

This paper implements the indicators and determinants of high blood pressure in men. Many studies have measure the effect of Hypertension among men of different ethnical and socio-economic backgrounds. Socioeconomic is one major determinant which influences high blood pressure in men. High blood pressure is a major illness in the human population, especially among men. High blood is normally called a “silent killer” due to the fact that there little to no symptoms. Fifty to fifty-eight million people suffer from hypertension with the increasing population being African Americans (John, n.d.).

Modern medical advancements have significantly decreased the prevalence and severity of infectious disease as well as the treatment of acute, traumatic conditions. Pharmacological research has also gained insight into the management of chronic disease. Still, there is an epidemic of chronic, treatable diseases like stroke, heart disease, and kidney disease. Hypertension proves to be the underlying factor associated with these diseases. Hypertension is often referred to as the silent killer because of its indication in deadly disease, and the importance of monitoring ones blood pressure is vital. Lifestyle, diet, and genetic predisposition are all factors of high blood pressure. Chronic high blood pressure above safe levels, known as hypertension, puts elevated physical stress on the renal and cardiovascular systems. By controlling this factor in patients, healthcare providers can decrease cardiovascular events, improve health outcomes, and decrease overall mortality. Patient education is often overlooked in its role in the control and prevention of high blood pressure. This paper analyzes the causes and physiology behind high blood pressure as they relate to the current nursing interventions. The role of nurses is discussed in relation to patient education regarding high blood pressure, and educational approaches are analyzed.

While the exact origin of this disease is unknown, medical research claims there are predisposing factors that make an individual more prone to becoming hypertensive. The prevalence of high blood pressure differs by race/ethnicity, with the condition being more common among blacks, comprising 40.4% of known cases (MMWR, 2013). There are certainly other personal contributing factors that helped with the progression of the disease. Vicki is an African American woman in her early forties, and lives a very busy lifestyle which requires her to travel quite frequently. From this we know that she has an abnormally sedentary routine which promotes vascular insufficiencies. Lacking substantial physical activity permits the vessels to constrict over time. With more resistance in the arteries, her heart cannot pump resourcefully and blood flow is slowly

Atherosclerosis: (Hardening & Narrowing of arteries): It is the cause of coronary artery disease in which the walls of the coronary arteries thicken due to accumulation of plaque in the blood vessels.

Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a prevalent disease in the United States affecting roughly 30% of the adults across the nation (CDC). Hypertension is a condition that is measured by the pressure of blood flowing into and out of the heart. This condition causes damage to the arterial walls of the heart, which can result in detrimental health events such as: heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, and even kidney disease (CDC). There are typically no symptoms when hypertension is first developed; however, if blood pressure has been very elevated for an extended period of time then the following superficial symptoms can occur: severe headache, fatigue/confusion, vision problems, chest pain,

Hypertension (HTN) is a growing concern for many individuals in the United States today. As an African American with both parents diagnosed with HTN and on current blood pressure medications, it is vital that I recognize and educate myself on the contributing factors that could lead to HTN and its preventive measures. I first began to recognize and pay attention to my blood pressure in middle school. In order to play any sport, it was required to have a physical on file. Every time I went to have my blood pressure checked, the nurses or health care professionals taking my blood pressure would show concern on how high it was. I could not understand; I was a year-round athlete, fit, in shape, and drank plenty of water. I was defined as a healthy individual, yet I was constantly being plagued by high blood pressure (HBP). Moving along to high school, I enrolled in pre-nursing courses. It was always embarrassing when we would practice manual blood pressures and the students would get a high reading for me. They would then ask the instructor to check in case they were not recording my blood pressure correctly. My instructor would then look at me and state, “you have high BP, wow LaAstreia; you are too young.” From then on, I became anxious and self-conscious whenever my blood pressure would be checked. Recognizing this as potentially hereditary, I knew I had to take extra precautions to

Atherosclerosis is when the arteries slowly harden due to a buildup of cholesterol, fatty substances, and cellular waste, also known as plaque. Medium or large arteries can

About 610,000 Americans die from heart diseases each year, which is about 1 in every 4 deaths. The most common type of heart disease is coronary artery disease. Coronary artery disease is buildup of plaque in the arteries, which restrict the flow of the oxygen rich blood and nutrients to the heart. This can cause major problems such as angina or heart attack. If the blood supply to the heart is disturbed or if the blood supply is not able to keep up with the energy demand. That can result in permanent damage to the heart muscle. The development of coronary artery disease is not spontaneous, it starts in your early teen years. The blood vessel walls start to show fatty deposits also known as plaques. As you get older, the plaque builds up and

Serious health problems can be heart attack and stroke. There are two types of high blood pressure. They are primary hypertension and secondary hypertension (Mayoclinic, 2015). Primary hypertension is where they is no identifiable cause of the high blood pressure and it tends to develop gradually over many years. Secondary hypertension is where the high blood pressure is caused by a underlying condition. This will appear suddenly and the blood pressure will be higher than with primary hypertension. Some factors to cause hypertension are age (men about age 45, women after 65), race (blacks will develop at an earlier age than white people), family history, being overweight or obese, not being physically active, smoking, too much salt in your diet, too little potassium and vitamin D in your diet and drinking too much alcohol, stress and chronic conditions (kidney disease, diabetes, sleep apnea, pregnancy) (Mayoclinic,

Despite the effort that has been done to reduce the cardiovascular disease in our society, this disorder (hypertension) still remains the number one killer disease in both men and women in the United States and around the world. “Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is probably the most common of all health problems in adults and is the leading factor for cardiovascular disorders. It affects approximately 50 million people in the United States and approximately one billion worldwide” (Grossman, & Porth, 2014, p. 773). The most problematic of high blood pressure disorder the real cause still remains unknown, but there are some risk factors as part of pathophysiology. According to Paradaksis and McPhee (2016), in the pathogenesis that has been

The two major types of hypertension are primary and secondary. Primary hypertension accounts for more than 90% of all cases and has no known cause, although it is hypothesized that genetic factors, hormonal changes, and the altercations in sympathetic tone all may play a role in its development. Secondary hypertension develops as a consequence of an underlying disease or condition. The prevention and treatment of hypertension is a major public health issue. When blood pressure is controlled, cardiovascular, renal disease, and stroke may be prevented. The JCN, reported more than 122 million individuals in American are overweight or obese, consume large amounts of dietary sodium and alcohol, and do not eat adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables; less than 20% exercise regularly. Both modifiable and non-modifiable factors play a role in the development of hypertension