Health Care

Cardiovascular disease is the #1 cause of death in the United States. One reason is the lack of commitment to heart healthy lifestyle. Your lifestyle is not only your best defense against heart disease, it’s also your responsibility.
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Written Research Assignment:
Research and discuss the causes of cardiovascular disease and its relationship to diet and exercise. Compare and analyze your own personal wellness data (Portfolio Lab assignments) to determine your risk of the disease and form a conclusion as to what changes you can make to decrease your risk. Finally, share information with others in order to encourage healthy behaviors within the community.
Assignment Requirements
Written Paper with a minimum of 350 word in paragraph form
You must cite at least 3 credible sources in the text of your paper and in the bibliography at the end. Example: “According to Joe Smith from the Mayo Clinic, individuals are at risk…”, you would then cite the reference in the bibliography with complete source. You can use any style to cite the reference.
Typed
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Assignment Topic
Research and discuss the causes of cardiovascular disease and its relationship to diet and exercise. Compare and analyze your own personal lifestyle choices (Portfolio Lab assignments) to determine your risk of the disease and form a conclusion as to what changes you can make to decrease your risk. Finally, share information with others in order to encourage healthy behaviors within the community. The following information will help you with the type of information that should be included. You are not limited to this, it will just give you a general idea of what I am looking for in the assignment.
Part #1- Research and discuss the causes of cardiovascular disease.
(Use at least 2 credible sources for Part #1- be sure to cite source IN THE TEXT and as a bibliography at end)
What are the causes?
Why is it a health concern?
What is the incidence of the disease/how many are affected?
Is it preventable?
What is the cost of the disease to the US?
Part #2- What is the relationship between cardiovascular disease and diet and exercise? (Use at least 1 credible source for Part #2- be sure to cite source IN THE TEXT and as bibliography at the end.)
What types of foods contribute to our risk?
Does physical activity help in prevention?
How does inactivity increase our risk?
Part #3- Compare and analyze your own personal lifestyle choices that contribute to YOUR risk of cardiovascular disease. Cite the lab assignments that you refer to. Example: “According to my BMI lab assignment, I am at greater risk…” or, “After reviewing my Nutritional Analysis Lab assignment, I realize…”
What are the lifestyle choices you are making that increase your risk?
Look at data from the following assignments
BMI assignment
How Healthy is Your Lifestyle Survey
Fast Food nutrition
Nutritional Analysis
Food Color Chart assignment
Sugar assignment
Be sure to cite the source of this information. (Example: “According to my Nutritional Analysis I do consume too much…”)
Part #4- Form a conclusion as to what changes you can make in your own personal lifestyle choices in order to decrease risk.
Specifically what can you do to decrease your risk NOW.
How will those changes benefit your future health
Part #5 Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility
Hopefully your workouts have allowed you to experience the positive benefits of physical activity. It is now time to share that with others. Physically inactive individuals are at greater risk for cardiovascular disease. According to the Center for Disease Control, if every physically inactive person became active, we would save 77 billion in health care costs every year. Only 1 in 5 adults and 1 in 3 children get the recommended amount of physical activity.
Invite at least 2 people (adult or child) to participate in a workout with you. It can be your regular workout or you can do something different (ride bikes, take a free class at gym, try a new workout DVD etc.)
Reflect on this experience and include the following information:
Who did you invite to workout out with you and why did you choose that person?
What information did you share to encourage them to participate?
Did you notice a difference in the individual’s attitudes toward physical activity with regards to their age, ethnic background, or socioeconomic background?
Explain the possible implications on our nation if everyone who is active encouraged others to become active too.
What other ways could you encourage physical activity in adults and children?

ANSWER

Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease is a term that is used for conditions that affect the blood and heart vessels. Therefore, Cardiovascular disease is abnormal functioning of the blood vessels and heart. This is usually linked to high blood clots and the building up of fatty deposits in the arteries. This paper will research cardiovascular disease, discuss the causes and explain its relationship to diet and exercise. Cardiovascular disease is among the significant causes of disability and death in the United States but can be prevented by leading a healthy lifestyle.

Cardiovascular disease is often linked to the atherosclerosis process, which develops when plaque builds up in the artery walls. After forming the plaque, it becomes hard for blood to flow, which may lead to a heart attack (Barbaresko, Rienks, and Nöthlings, 2018). Heart disease is used to define a variety of heart conditions. Some of the well-known cardiovascular disease conditions include heart valve problems, heart failure, and arrhythmia. Cardiovascular develops from a wide range of factors, including genetics, family history, poor diet, lack of physical activity, hypertension and high body cholesterol, and obesity (Lanier, Bury, and Richardson, 2016). Some of the causes of heart diseases include unhealthy lifestyle patterns such as lack of exercise, poor diet, smoking, and overweight. Ideally, lifestyle patterns increase the risk of heart disease. For instance, high cholesterol levels tend to clog the artery walls and raise the risk of heart disease.

The United States has suffered from societal and financial burdens that are linked to cardiovascular disease. In the United States, heart disease has been prevalent and the cause of death among whites, blacks, American Indians, and Hispanic men and women. However, Roth et al., (2018) stated that more women die more than men each year due to cardiovascular disease. Despite the fact women of all ethnicities and races are affected by cardiovascular disease, disparity exists between the women of color and women from other ethnicities due to personalization and awareness of the risk of the disease (Cockerham et al., 2017).

Eating foods that have saturated fats, cholesterol, and trans fats can lead to heart disease. Living an inactive lifestyle and not getting enough exercise can contribute to heart disease. Exercise and physical activity reduce the relative risk of developing cardiovascular disease.  Moderating changes in the diet can be enough in preventing heart disease. Therefore, diet has a direct influence and essential role in heart disease. Lanier, Bury, and Richardson (2016) stated that a third of the deaths caused by cardiovascular disease could be preventable through healthy lifestyle patterns such as physical activity and diet.

According to personal wellness data, I am at a high risk of cardiovascular disease due to my lifestyle behaviors. I rarely participate in high-intensity activity and have poor eating habits such as food low in fiber, high salt, fat, and sugar. To reduce the risks of cardiovascular disease, I need an eating plan associated with reduced fatty acids and low sodium intake. Increasing my physical activity by any level will reduce the cardiovascular risk.

Learning how to prevent and lower the risks of heart disease is essential for long healthy life. Healthy lifestyle steps and lifestyle changes to maintain a healthy weight, lower blood pressure and cholesterol are effective ways of preventing cardiovascular disease. Activities such as running, swimming, walking, biking, and aerobic are all appropriate for an active lifestyle to reduce the risk of heart disease. Trying to limit foods with added sugars, high in sodium and saturated fats, and eating plenty of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, helps lower cholesterol and blood pressure which reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. A healthy lifestyle is the best defense against cardiovascular disease.

References

Barbaresko, J., Rienks, J., & Nöthlings, U. (2018). Lifestyle indices and cardiovascular disease risk: a meta-analysis. American journal of preventive medicine, 55(4), 555-564.

Cockerham, W. C., Bauldry, S., Hamby, B. W., Shikany, J. M., & Bae, S. (2017). A comparison of black and white racial differences in healthy lifestyles and cardiovascular disease. American journal of preventive medicine, 52(1), S56-S62.

Lanier, J. B., Berry, D. C., & Richardson, S. W. (2016). Diet and physical activity for cardiovascular disease prevention. American family physician, 93(11), 919-924.

Roth, G. A., Johnson, C. O., Abate, K. H., Abd-Allah, F., Ahmed, M., Alam, K., … & Global Burden of Cardiovascular Diseases Collaboration. (2018). The burden of cardiovascular diseases among US states, 1990-2016. JAMA cardiology, 3(5), 375-389.