Cardiovascular diseases are among the most daunting challenges that the US healthcare system faces today. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as many as 610,000 deaths occur every year as a result of cardiovascular diseases (CDC, 2017). While all cardiovascular diseases threaten human life, coronary heart disease is particularly frightening. Figures shared by the CDC indicate that this disease is to blame for 370,000 annual deaths in the US (CDC, 2017). The high number of deaths due to cardiovascular heart diseases underscores the need for action. To tackle these diseases, the US needs to begin with an understanding of how they develop. Gender is among the factors that expose individuals to an elevated risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.
Gender and Cardiovascular Diseases
The role that gender plays in the development of cardiovascular diseases is complex and not fully understood. However, the scholarly and scientific communities have endeavored to define the impact of gender. It has been established that women face a higher risk of developing certain cardiovascular diseases. For example, in the United States, over 60% of deaths caused by stroke occurred among women (CDC, n.d). This finding indicates that for women, stroke is a serious threat. While women are particularly threatened by stroke, overall, men face a higher risk of cardiovascular diseases. In the US, more men than women are living with and succumbing to various cardiovascular diseases. The academic community has attempted to reveal the reasons behind the gender differences in cardiovascular disease prevalence and mortality. One of the hypotheses that have been presented is that the gender disparities are simply a reflection of the constitution of the US population. There have also been attempts to explain why cardiovascular disease mortality is higher among men. It is believed that the longer life expectancies that women have are linked to the lower cardiovascular mortality rate (Leening et al., 2014). It is true that these explanations are rather weak and not convincing. However, one should understand that the weak explanations show that the scientific community is yet to fully understand the complexities of cardiovascular diseases.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The scientific community has had breakthroughs in its quest to understand the link between gender and cardiovascular diseases. As noted above, the prevalence rate of these diseases is higher among men. An explanation offered for this observation is that gender differences expose men to a greater risk. These differences are understood to determine gene expression, which in turn defines one’s risk of developing heart disease. Vera Retigz-Zagrosek and her colleagues capture this explanation perfectly in their article: “They are due to differences in gene expression from the sex chromosomes and subsequent differences in sexual hormones leading to differences in gene expression and function in the CV system” (Retigz-Zagrosek et al., 2016, p. 24). Gene expression is not the only gender-related process that explains sex disparities in cardiovascular diseases. Lifestyles, nutrition and different stress levels are other factors which have been linked to the gender differences (Retigz-Zagrosek et al., 2016). Hormonal factors have also been cited to account for the gender differences. The fact that there are multiple gender-related risk factors for cardiovascular diseases demonstrates the complexity of these diseases.
Congestive Heart Failure and hypertension/dyslipidemia
Congestive heart failure is one of the most common forms of cardiovascular disease. Thanks to the efforts of the scientific community, mankind has made progress in understanding how this condition develops. Hypertension is among the conditions which have received blame for causing individuals to develop congestive heart disease (Huether & McCance, 2017). Overloading the heart is among the mechanisms through which hypertension increases one’s risk of congestive heart failure. It is important to note that the link between hypertension and congestive heart failure is indirect. By overloading the heart, hypertension leads to left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) (Gottdiener, 2015). LVH develops when the left wall of the ventricles become thicker as a result of increase in blood pressure. The development of this condition is a manifestation of the heart’s attempt to minimize the stress that the high blood pressure imposes on the walls. Following the thickening of the walls of the heart, the left ventricle undergoes dilation. Next, the ejection fraction of the left ventricle experiences a decline. Unless corrective action is taken, this series of events culminates in congestive heart failure. It is worth noting that congestive heart failure is not the only condition which usually results from hypertension. High blood pressure has also been linked to such other heart conditions as stroke and heart attack (Kokubo, 2014). Given that hypertension is partly the result of lifestyle factors, there are actions that individuals can take to minimize their risk of developing congestive heart failure and other heart conditions. For example, by adopting healthier diets, an individual is able to insulate himself against hypertension and by extension, congestive heart failure.
In conclusion, every year, the US loses hundreds of thousands of its people to various cardiovascular diseases. The high mortality resulting from these diseases is unacceptable and calls for urgent interventions. To aid the fight against the diseases, the US should begin with a clear understanding of the risk factors. Gender is among these factors. While thousands of women have developed and die from different cardiovascular diseases, men face an elevated risk. Hormonal factors and lifestyle choices are among the forces that are driving the high prevalence rate of cardiovascular diseases among men. In addition to gender differences, hypertension is another risk factor for the diseases. It is important for the US to develop preventive strategies which focus on eliminating or minimizing the impact of the risk factors.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2017). Heart Disease Facts. Retrieved
June 17, 2018 from https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/facts.htm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (n.d). Women and stroke. Retrieved June, 17
2018 from https://www.cdc.gov/stroke/docs/women_stroke_factsheet.pdf
Gottdiener, J. S. (2015). The shape of LVH in hypertension. What does it tell us? JACC
Cardiovascular Imaging, 8 (9). DOI: 10.1016/j.jcmg.2015.08.002
Huether, S. E., & McCance, K. L. (2017). Understanding pathophysiology (6th ed.). St. Louis,
MO: Mosby.
Kokubo, Y. (2014). Prevention of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. Hypertension.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.113.00543
Leening, M. J. G., Steyerberg, E. W., Deckers, J. W., Portegies, M. L. P., Ikram, M. A., Franco,
O. H., & Witterman, J. C. (2014). Sex differences in lifetime risk and first manifestation of cardiovascular disease: prospective population based cohort study. BMJ. DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g5992
Retigz-Zagrosek, V., Oertelt-Prigione, S., Prescott, E. et al. (2016). Gender in cardiovascular
Diseases: impact on clinical manifestations, management and outcomes. European
Heart Journal, 37, 24-34.
