Cardiovascular Disease, Thoracic Cavity, And Respiratory System Essay.

Demonstrate knowledge of the different prokaryotic and eukaryotic pathogens and give examples of diseases they can cause.

Demonstrate knowledge of infections of different areas; the skin, soft tissue, muscle and associated systems, respiratory system or cardiovascular system, for example.

Basic anatomy of heart and major vessels

                                                                              Figure: Anatomy of heart

                                                                      Source: Shier, Butler and Lewis (2015)

The heart is a muscular organ that is responsible for pumping blood and ensure the smooth functioning of the human circulatory system. The heart beats 80 times per minute and on an average it beats 115,000 times in a single day (Netter 2017). The cardiovascular system comprises of the heart and the associated blood vessels. The system is responsible for circulating the blood and supplying oxygen and nutrients to different parts of the body. The heart comprises of four chambers, 2 auricles and 2 ventricles respectively (Gosling et al.2016). The auricles receive the deoxygenated blood from different parts of the body to the heart and the ventricles pump out fresh oxygenated blood from the heart to different parts of the body. The blood vessels widely comprise a network of arteries and veins that are responsible for circulating the blood throughout the body. It should be noted here that the arteries transport oxygenated blood from the heart to other parts of the body while the veins carry deoxygenated blood from the other parts of the body to the heart for the purpose of purification. There are four valves that prevent the backward flow of the blood and facilitate forward flow. The mitral and the tricuspid valve restrict the blood flow from the auricles to the ventricles, whereas the aortic and the pulmonary valve control the flow of blood from the ventricles. The SA node is also known as the pacemaker of the heart that stimulates smooth contraction of the cardiac muscles.

Cardiovascular disorders (CVD) can be defined as a general disease condition that affects the functioning of the heart and the associated blood vessels. Cardiovascular disease is characterized by the deposition of fats within the inner surface of the arteries that increase the risk of forming blood clots. The disease is often accompanied with damage in organs such as brain, heart, eyes and kidneys. Mortality related to CVD is common in UK, however risks can be prevented by the maintenance of a healthy life style.

What is cardiovascular disease? Describe.

Maintenance of a healthy lifestyle can help in preventing risks associated with developing CVD. Quitting smoking and consumption of a balanced diet that includes, low level of saturated fat, low level of salt and sugar intake can help in maintaining a healthy heart (He et al. 2014). In addition to this, consumption of plenty of fibres and fresh fruits, reducing alcohol consumption and increased exercising regularly can help in leading a healthy life style.

Health promotion strategies related to CVD is majorly focused on preventing risks associated with CVD. To ensure and enforce appropriate health promotion strategies, action needs to be undertaken across five major levels that include, individual, interpersonal, community, institutional and public policy. At the individual level, there is a need to spread awareness about the complicated implication of CVD. At the interpersonal level, there is a need to encourage support from family and peers to facilitate change in life style. At the community level, there should be strict enforcement of awareness strategies through social networking. AT the institutional and public level, there is a need to reform the existing healthcare policies to promote positive health outcomes.

The thorax is located between the neck and the abdomen. It is encased inside the rib-cage and is supported by the spine and the shoulder girdle (Bastir et al. 2013). The internal content of the thorax include, the soft organs that is the heart, lungs and the thymus gland. In addition to this, the major and the minor pectoral muscles, the trapezius muscle and the neck muscle are also contained within the thorax (Baum 2016). Other internal structure such as the diaphragm, oesophagus, trachea and the sternum are also contained within the thorax. Also, the aorta, superior vena cave, inferior vena cava, the pulmonary artery exist within the thorax cavity. The shoulder socket that comprises the upper part of the humerus, scapula, sternum, thoracic portion of the spine, the collar bone and the rib cage are positioned within the thorax cavity. The external structures can be identified as the skin and the nipples.

                                                                                        Fig: The Thoracic cavity

Identify the interaction between nutrition and health to correlate a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle.

                                                                                 Source: Shier, Butler and Lewis (2015)

The respiratory system comprises of the lungs, the conducting airway passage, the chest wall and the part of the CNS that regulates the muscles involved in respiration. The chest wall is composed of muscles such as the diaphragm, intercostal muscles, the rib cage and the abdominal muscles (Farsalingos 2013). The respiratory system includes gaseous exchange, maintaining acid-base balance, pulmonary defence and metabolism, regulation of bioactive materials and the phenomenon of phonation.

A number of factors have been associated with poor functioning of the respiratory system. The factors include, manifestation of allergic reaction, sleep abnormality, excessive body weight, palpitation and excessive perspiration during any physical activity and unhealthy life style characterized by excessive smoking and over-consumption of alcohol (Shier et al., 2015).

Upper respiratory tract infection and associated respiratory disorders are extremely common in people and accounts for 33% of the mortality rate every year in UK (Busse et al. 2014). Health promotion strategies to help patients manage URT infections would include, spreading awareness and education to improve access to healthcare facilities. In addition to this organising wellness camps to impart self-management techniques to people such as imparting training about CPR techniques could facilitate prevention at an initial stage. There should be emergency help available within community settings such as schools and work places to prevent complications and there should be strategies to facilitate early detection of symptoms so as to avoid life-threatening conditions. Special considerations for the elderly people must also be taken into account and appropriate strategies must be undertaken to promote positive health.

References:

Bastir, M., Martínez, D.G., Recheis, W., Barash, A., Coquerelle, M., Rios, L., Peña-Melián, Á., Río, F.G. and O’Higgins, P., 2013. Differential growth and development of the upper and lower human thorax. PloS one, 8(9), p.e75128.

Baum, F. (2016). The new public health (No. Ed. 4). Oxford University Press.pp.111-113

Busse, H., Aboneh, E.A. and Tefera, G., 2014. Learning from developing countries in strengthening health systems: an evaluation of personal and professional impact among global health volunteers at Addis Ababa University’s Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (Ethiopia). Globalization and health, 10(1), p.64.

Farsalinos, K.E., Romagna, G., Tsiapras, D., Kyrzopoulos, S. and Voudris, V., 2013. Evaluation of electronic cigarette use (vaping) topography and estimation of liquid consumption: implications for research protocol standards definition and for public health authorities’ regulation. International journal of environmental research and public health, 10(6), pp.2500-2514.

Gosling, J.A., Harris, P.F., Humpherson, J.R., Whitmore, I. and Willan, P.L., 2016. Human Anatomy, Color Atlas and Textbook E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.

He, F. J., Brinsden, H. C., & MacGregor, G. A. (2014). Salt reduction in the United Kingdom: a successful experiment in public health. Journal of human hypertension, 28(6), 345.

Netter, F.H., 2017. Atlas of Human Anatomy E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.

Shier, D., Butler, J. and Lewis, R., 2015. Hole's essentials of human anatomy & physiology. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.