CORONARY HEART DISEASE

Management of Coronary Heart Disease: A patient Profile Review

Abstract

Mrs. Cox was diagnosed of coronary heart disease and she was positive for many contributing factors including; age above 65 years, high blood pressure, overweight, and her stressful life. Declining age and exertion has become the cause of heart failure. She had a professional life full of workload and even today she was busy in taking care of her husband. Stress and other co morbidities have vitally contributed in the onset of coronary heart disease. Mrs. Cox was prescribed ACE inhibitor, Beta blocker and Furosemide for relieving the symptoms of heart failure and to reduce edema. Nursing care plays a major role in home care of the patient suffering from heart failure. The nursing education and interventions are directly linked to patient health care.

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

Disease Overview

Coronary heart disease is a pathological condition when there is a blockage of blood supply to the heart. The blood supply may be fully blocked, or it may be interrupted by the deposition of fatty substances in the arteries carrying blood to the heart. With the onset of this process, the deposition of fatty substances causes hardening of the coronary arteries, and this condition is called as atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is due to deposition of fatty substances, plaques of cholesterol and cellular by products which resides in the inner lining of the arteries. The fatty deposit is called as “atheroma”. The term used for blockage of arteries is called “ischemia” and coronary heart disease is also called as ischemic heart disease (Wilson et. al, 1998).

Atherosclerosis can be due many factors which include poor lifestyle and eating habits, such as smoking, alcohol, and excessive consumption of cholesterol, fatty substances and sedentary lifestyle. Diseases like hypertension and diabetes also contribute in the onset of atherosclerosis (www.umm.edu).

The main pathological conditions included in coronary heart disease are:

Acute myocardial infarction, commonly called as heart attack. In this condition, any part of coronary artery is blocked due to atherosclerosis. The muscles of the heart deprived of the oxygenated blood become damaged; this causes pain and unstable heartbeat. The muscle damage is the main cause of heart failure as steadily heart loses its pumping function. The acute myocardial infarction is curable within first few hours of onset by administering thrombolytic drugs which causes the dissolution of clot, resume the heart function and decreases the chances of potential muscle damage (www.scotpho.org.uk). Angina pectoris, due to coronary heart disease patient complains of frequent chest pain. Upon exertion or exercise the blocked arteries cannot cope up the demand of oxygenated blood and causes cramping pain. Angina can be handled efficiently with slight modification in lifestyle and procedures like Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) or Angioplasty (Percutaneous Coronary Intervention, PCI). Coronary heart disease is one of the most common causes of heart failure, when the heart completely loses the function of pumping blood (www.scotpho.org.uk).

Prevalence of Coronary Heart Disease in United Kingdom

It is estimated by the British Heart Foundation that ...