cardiovascular disease

Question 1

what is a risk factor?

Answer 1

a factor that increases the likelihood of developing a particular disease

Question 2

what are cardiovascular diseases?

Answer 2

diseases that affect the circulatory system (heart or blood vessels)

Question 3

what are some risk factors for CVD?

Answer 3

-high cholesterol levels
-obesity
-age and gender
-diet high in salt/ saturated fats
-stress levels
-genetics

Question 4

what is the function of the heart?

Answer 4

to contract to create the pressure gradient for mass transport

Question 5

describe how a diet high in salt would lead to high blood pressure?

Answer 5

salt would be absorbed from the intestines into the blood

salt is soluble so would lower the water potential of blood

the surrounding cells would have a higher water potential than the blood so water moves into blood via osmosis down water potential gradient

increases volume of blood and so increases pressure

Question 6

if the pressure in blood vessels is too high…

Answer 6

heart will contract with greater force to try and create a pressure gradient, and this can lead to heart failure or aneurysms

Question 7

why are LDL’s a problem?

Answer 7

they transport cholesterol to cells and if there are high levels then it can lead to the development of an atheroma

Question 8

what effect does an atheroma have?

Answer 8

decreases lumen diameter

so reduced blood flow

so thrombosis (blood clot) may occur

this can block supply of blood to heart and lead to a heart attack (myocardial infarction)

Question 9

what is a stroke?

Answer 9

sudden loss of brain function in a localised area due to disruption of blood flow to brain