Essay: Cardiovascular Disease In Aboriginal Australians - A Case Study

Cardiovascular Diseases

The National Health Priorities Areas of Australia is a combined effort of State and tertiary government and commonwealth that aims to improve the health status of the people of Australia. Cardiovascular disease is one of the priority areas of NHPA. It is the major cause of the deaths in Australia. In this report, case study of David, 53 years old aboriginal Australian male who is diagnosed with hypertension has been discussed. The health, social and economic conditions of aboriginal Australians will be discussed. What problems were faced by the aboriginal Australians at work place and in the society will also be included in this report (Heraganahally & et al., 2020). This report will also explain the risk factors for developing the cardiovascular (CVD) and the long-term consequences of it. The social determinants of health that were experienced by David will be identified.

The disorder of heart and blood vessels are included in cardiovascular diseases. Increase in the blood pressure is one of the main causes of CVD. There are generally four categories of CVD, coronary heart disease, aortic disease, strokes and peripheral arterial disease. In the given case of David, who is 53 years old male is visited to the hospital due to a high increase in his blood pressure (Young & Flack, 2018). Doctor told him that he was very lucky that he didn’t suffer a heart attack or stroke. Such abnormal rise in blood pressure is a big alerting sign for David that he may get a heart attack or stroke any time. His arteries were block with plaques. Doctor prescribed medication to him but he didn’t have those medications. David’s financial condition is not stable. The weak economic and financial conditions of the people are the major barrier in achieving the quality health. David is an aboriginal Australian, who faced racism, lack of education and cultural disconnection in his childhood and his work place that affects his health. David family condition is also not good both physically and financially. He has three children and a wife who take care of their children and her parents. David had a tough life throughout. He has the responsibility of his family but he is neglecting his health. His father-in-law is diabetic and almost lost his vision and his mother-in-law has to go for dialysis three times a week. He is not financially strong to afford the treatment for all so he is avoiding his health condition. Hypertension is one of the most common causes for heart-attack and stroke. The NHPA has taken various steps to improve the health conditions of people in Australia (Zhu & et al., 2019).

Risk factors for the health condition

High blood pressure can be defined as the sudden increase of the pressure of blood in the vessels and arteries (Steven & et al., 2019). Blood pressure is considered is considered to be serious because sometimes it doesn’t have any symptoms and only diagnose by measuring it. Proper medication and healthy life style are the main areas that needs to be focused in the treatment of high blood pressure. If hypertension is left untreated it can be life threatening. It is one of the major causes of deaths in Australia.

Unhealthy life style and improper diet is also the risk factor for blood pressure (Castricum & et al., 2018). In case of David, he is financially weak as he cannot afford the medicines and food for her family. He is working all day long then also he doesn’t fulfill his basic needs. Most of his money goes in paying rent and in the care of his family. Using too much sodium in the diet is also a risk factor for hypertension. Stress is also one of the main risk factors for high blood pressure (Dzhambov & Dimitrova, 2018). In this case also, David is living a very stressful life which results in increasing blood pressure. Many social, economic and cultural factors are responsible for the stress. Unhealthy life style due to poverty and insufficient food to eat also increase the cause of high-blood pressure. Consumption of excessive alcohol and tobacco also lead to the danger of getting high-blood pressure.

Genetic and family history is also a risk factor for high blood pressure and CVD (Donkin & et al., 2018). If someone in the family had high blood pressure then there are more chances that it can pass on to the next generation. The blockage in the arteries and having hard blood cells increase the chances of high-blood pressure. Social and cultural factors also play an important role in creating a risk factor for CVD. Lower standard of living also known as a common reason for the cardiovascular disease. The activities that are not healthy for the life-style such as smoking, unhealthy diet, lack of body activities creates higher chances of an increase in high-blood pressure. Physical inactivity and obesity and high cholesterol level are also considered as a risk factor.

Cardiovascular disease can cause many other problems and results in many other complications. In David’s case, High blood pressure is a sign of blockage of arteries. Hypertension can cause damage to the arteries as the pressure of blood becomes high so it can damage the inner lining of the arteries. High blood pressure may result in heart attack as it makes the heart muscles weak. It may lead to coronary heart disease due to narrowing of arteries caused by high-blood pressure. It can damage the brain also that will be a serious threat to the life of patient (Shen & et al., 2018). When oxygen and nutrients supply to the brain gets blocked, the nerve cells died and results in stroke. It can cause a person to go in coma or may lead to death. In case of blockage in the brain it may cause dementia in some cases. One of the common causes of kidney failure is the high blood pressure as it causes blood vessels to damage and the damaged blood vessels cannot filter waste out from the blood (Dar & et al., 2019). The long-term consequences provide memory loss, headache, shoulder pain, anger, etc. that not only impact on the physically but also mentally. High blood pressure is responsible for causing retinopathy, a condition in which damaged blood vessels causes bleeding in the eye, blurred vision and complete blindness. High blood pressure increases the chance of having many heart problems including the blockage of arteries and vessels which increase high risk for the heart. High blood pressure is the alarming sign for the patients that something is not right with their body. In some case it is observed that patient acquire diabetes along with the hypertension.

Long-term consequences of the condition

There are many health issues or risk related to Davis. His age is 52 years and he is susceptible to many other health disorders in this age. David has visited to hospital when he complaint of high blood pressure. His physical as well as economic conditions are not good. David is the only member in his family who is earning and has a responsibility of all the family members. Doctor has prescribed medicine to hi and alerts him that he may be at risk of getting a heart attack or a stroke if he doesn’t pay attention to his health. In spite of this, he didn’t take his medicine because his financial condition is not stable. David’s father and mother-in-law live with him and they are also suffering from kidney disease and diabetes respectively. David is an aboriginal Australian. The health condition of aboriginal Australians is not good as there are no facilities provided to them (Kivimäki & Steptoe, 2018). Davis is at risk of getting other heart disease that can be danger to his life. In addition to the heart diseases, he is also having chances of mental illness that includes, anger, stress, pain in shoulders, etc. This will change the social aspects of the patient and increase the chances of stress. David needs proper medication and rest to treat his disease but he is not getting the favorable conditions. He was working since he was just fourteen. He worked all day long without any rest and care. He is at risk of getting coronary arterial disease. High blood pressure is the starting sign of many problems related to the heart. David should pay attention to his health as it is the warning sign for him. But his family background and economical status is not favorable. There are so many people in the world who risk their life in absence of money and financial support.

These are those non-medical factors that influences the outcomes and impact on the health. These are the environment where people are born, grown up, live and work. These factors play an important role in the health inequities. In Australia, the health condition of aboriginal Australian is not good (Hamilton & et al., 2020). David is also an aboriginal Australian. His social and economic condition is not good. He faced racism at work place. His new boss tried to get him and other aboriginal Australians out of the office; he called him black fellas which is assigned name to the aboriginal Australians in Australia. Social and economic conditions play an important role in having good health. In David case both social and economic conditions were not good. He didn’t like to go to school because at school also he was bullied and abused by the other children. He always faced problems in his life. Lacks of education, racism, lack of good job are all the factors responsible for the poor health conditions of David. There are many factors that affect the health of person. Social and cultural determinants affect the health of a people at their workplace, at school and everywhere they go and live. The Social Determinants of Health has a major significance on health inequalities, which are unjustified and avoidable disparities in the history of health that exist within countries (Pignatelli & et al., 2018). Health and sickness follow a complex interaction in countries of all income levels: the worse the economic class, the poorer the health. Researchers have observed that the social factors are more important in determining the health condition of the people than the health care.

Health issues or risks related to David

Conclusion

This report concludes that social determinants of health have a major impact on the physical and social as well as economical condition of people. In this report, the selected NHPA is cardiovascular disease which is the leading cause of death in Australia. This report explains the physical and mental health of a 53 years old male David, who is suffering from hypertension and face many socioeconomic challenges in his life. This report contains the risk factors for developing the health condition of David. In this report various social determinants of health are discussed. This report also explains the poor health condition of the aboriginal Australians in Australia. Many social determinants are responsible for the physical health conditions of the people that are included in this report. It is very important to educate the people about the community behavior that they should follow with the people suffering from any kind of disease. As a primary healthcare nurse, it is very important to take educational session of the people associated with such behavior. Social and genetic causes of the diseases are mutually connected. It is very important to understand them and try to remove or reduced them so that health conditions of people can be improved. Primary health care generally has three components including meeting with peoples, addressing social determinants of their health, educating the people, community and the family to improve the health conditions. 

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