Explain how simply growing older increases the risk for heart ...

[hbsimmons88]

Explain how simply growing older increases the risk for heart disease. Is there any way to counteract this reality?

Question 2

Discuss how cigarette smoking contributes to the development of CVD.

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Answer to Question 1

Age is a risk factor because of the higher incidence of heart disease as people get older. This tendency may be induced partly by other factors stemming from changes in lifestyle as we get older-less physical activity, poorer nutrition, obesity, and so on. Although the aging process cannot be stopped, it certainly can be slowed. Physiological age versus chronological age is important in preventing disease. Some individuals in their 60s and older have the body of a 30-year-old. And 30-year-olds often are in such poor condition and health that they almost seem to have the body of a 60-year-old. The best ways to slow the natural aging process are to engage in risk factor management and positive lifestyle habits.

Answer to Question 2

Smoking prompts the release of nicotine and another 1,200 toxic compounds into the bloodstream. Similar to hypertension, many of these substances are destructive to the inner membrane that protects the walls of the arteries. Once the lining is damaged, cholesterol and triglycerides can be deposited readily in the arterial wall. As the plaque builds up, it obstructs blood flow through the arteries.

Smoking encourages the formation of blood clots, which can completely block an artery already narrowed by atherosclerosis. In addition, carbon monoxide, a byproduct of cigarette smoke, decreases the blood's oxygen-carrying capacity. A combination of obstructed arteries, less oxygen, and nicotine in the heart muscle heightens the risk for a serious heart problem.

Smoking also increases heart rate, raises blood pressure, and irritates the heart, which can trigger fatal cardiac arrhythmias. Another harmful effect is a decrease in HDL cholesterol, the good type that helps control blood lipids. Smoking actually presents a much greater risk of death from heart disease than from lung disease.

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