Assignment: Case Study – Coronary Artery Disease

Assignment: Case Study – Coronary Artery Disease
Assignment: Case Study – Coronary Artery Disease
Module 03 Case Study – Coronary Artery Disease John Miller, a 65-year old patient, was referred to the cardiologist’s office for an evaluation. The patient had recently started an exercise program for weight loss. For the last 3 weeks, following exercise, he had noticed radiating chest pain (angina pectoris) that stopped after rest. This condition had worsened in the last week. The cardiologist ordered a stress echocardiogram. The stress echo results suggested that the patient had coronary artery disease. The patient was scheduled for a cardiac catheterization the next morning. It was noted in the patient’s chart that he smoked two packs of cigarettes per day. What is the abbreviation for coronary artery disease? What symptoms suggest that this patient is suffering from coronary artery disease and not some other disorder? Why is it important to test the heart under stress rather than obtaining a resting echocardiogram? Why is a cardiac catheterization needed in addition to the stress echo? What lifestyle changes should the patient make to prevent further heart attacks? Answer these five questions about community measures in a properly APA formatted Word document.
What exactly is coronary artery disease (CAD)?
Coronary artery disease is a narrowing or blockage of your coronary arteries caused by plaque buildup.
Coronary artery disease, also known as coronary heart disease, ischemic heart disease, and heart disease, is a type of coronary artery disease.
What are the locations of the coronary arteries?
What exactly do they do?
Coronary arteries are the blood vessels that carry oxygen-rich blood to your heart muscle, allowing it to continue to beat.
The coronary arteries run parallel to the heart muscle.
There are four major coronary arteries in your body:
The right coronary artery is a blood vessel that runs through the heart.
The coronary artery on the left side.
The artery that runs down the left side of the body.
The circumflex artery on the left side.
In coronary artery disease, what happens to the arteries?
Atherosclerosis is the cause of coronary artery disease.
The buildup of plaque inside your arteries is known as atherosclerosis.
Cholesterol, fatty compounds, waste materials, calcium, and the clotting ingredient fibrin make up plaque.
As plaque builds up on the insides of your arteries, they constrict and harden.
Plaque can clog or damage your arteries, causing blood flow to your heart muscle to be restricted or stopped.
Your heart can’t obtain the oxygen and nutrients it needs to function correctly if it doesn’t get enough blood.
Ischemia is the medical term for this illness.
Chest discomfort or pain might result from a lack of blood supply to your heart muscle (called angina).
It also raises your chances of having a heart attack.
What causes plaque to form in the arteries?
Coronary artery disease affects everyone at some point in their lives.
The rate at which it develops varies from one person to the next.
When you’re young, the process normally begins.
The blood vessel walls begin to develop fat streaks before your teen years.
As plaque builds up in the inner walls of your arteries, your body responds by sending white blood cells to attack the cholesterol, but the attack produces further inflammation.
Other cells in the arterial wall respond by forming a soft cover over the plaque.
The plaque’s delicate crown has the potential to break open (due to blood pressure or other causes).
Platelets, which are blood cell fragments, adhere to the location of “the injury,” causing a clot to develop.
The clot narrows the arteries even more.
A blood clot can sometimes disintegrate on its own.
Occasionally, a clot will block blood flow through an artery, depriving the heart of oxygen and resulting in a heart attack.
CAD Plaque Construction
The method by which plaque accumulates in your coronary arteries.
Who is at risk of developing coronary artery disease?
You’re more likely to get coronary artery disease if you:
Have a high level of cholesterol (particularly high LDL “bad” cholesterol and low HDL “good” cholesterol).
Have a high blood pressure condition.
Heart disease runs in the family.
I’m diabetic.
Are you a tobacco user?
Are you a post-menopausal lady or a male over 45 years old?
Are you obese?
Are physically sedentary.
Are you an African-American, a Mexican-American, a Native American, a Native Hawaiian, or an Asian-American?
Higher rates of high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes in these populations contribute to the elevated risks.
Consult your doctor if you have any of these risk factors.
They might want to run tests to see if you have coronary artery disease.
CAUSES AND SYMPTOMS
Symptoms of a heart attack and their location.
What signs and symptoms do you have if you have coronary artery disease?
Because you may not experience symptoms at first, you may not realize you have coronary artery disease.
Plaque builds up in your arteries over time, from years to decades.
However, when your arteries constrict, you may have moderate symptoms, indicating that your heart is working harder to transport oxygen-rich blood to your body.
The most typical symptoms are chest pain or shortness of breath, which can occur even when doing nothing but going up stairs.
You may not realize you have coronary artery disease until you experience a heart attack.
The following are signs and symptoms of a heart attack:
Heaviness, tightness, pressure, hurting, burning, numbness, fullness, squeezing, or a dull ache are all symptoms of angina.
The pain may spread to your left shoulder, arms, neck, back, or jaw, or it may only be felt in your left shoulder, arms, neck, back, or mouth.
I’m exhausted.
Lightheadedness and dizziness.
Nausea.
Weakness.
Women’s heart attack symptoms differ slightly from men’s and include:
Shoulders, neck, abdomen (belly), and/or back discomfort or pain.
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or heartburn.
Anxiety that isn’t explained.
I’m breaking out in cold sweat.