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Cardiovascular Disease Research Paper

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Cardiovascular disease is the top killer of women and men in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). It is predicted by the CDC that an American will have a severe cardiac event in about every 25 seconds. By reducing or eliminating controllable risk factors, one “could prevent or postpone substantially more deaths from CHD” (Capewell et al., 2010, p. 120). Heart disease, which researchers may refer to as coronary artery disease (CAD), CHD, or cardiovascular disease (CVD), can be avoided or “reduced by taking steps to prevent and control factors that put people at greater risk” (CDC, 2011). Correlating risk factor of heart disease include obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes, hypertension, unhealthy diet, secondhand …show more content…

p. 245). Ito et. al. conducted a genome association study that showed 2 risk alleles, identified as G1 and G2, in apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1) that increased the occurrence of CVD in African Americans (p. 846-47). Along with genetics, there have been studies that have shown that chronic stressors in the African American community can affect their allostatic, which is described as the “wear and tear of the body” (Hickson et. al., 2012,. p. 1362). In this particular study, researches investigate the pattern of increasing dysfunction of allostatic load within African American adults (p. 1362). It argues that one's stress, which results from their environment, can negatively effect their cardiovascular health (p. 1364-65). With 4,048 participants, the cross-sectional reveals a link between socioeconomic status and allostatic load (p. 1363). The study concluded that lower income and education were linked to African Americans, who had the higher allostatic load scores (p. 1365-66). Of the African Americans in the study, the women had a slightly more stronger association to allostatic load (p. …show more content…

Researchers Shirato and Swan have found that cardiovascular disease, coronary artery disease in particular, is the more often the cause of death in women than all cancers combined (Shirato & Swan, 2010, p. 283). There are a large number of women living with heart disease. With one in three women estimated to suffer from CVD, women are also immensely affected illnesses that coexist with CVD. For instance, Shirato and Swan found that women with CVD are more likely than men with CVD to have diabetes (p. 282). It is proposed that 30,000 additional deaths are caused by trends between diabetes, obesity, and hypertension (Capewell et al., 2010). Despite the knowledge of how detrimental CVD can be towards women, it is still seen as a man’s

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