Atherosclerosis Case Study

CHAPTER ONE

1. Introduction

1.1 Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is deposition of plaques containing cholesterol and lipids on the inner most layer of the walls of large and medium –sized arteries. (Herbert, 2014)

Atherosclerosis is the buildup of a waxy plaque on the inside of artery, the arteries are blood vessels that carry blood from the heart through the body, and they are lined by a thin layer of cells called the endothelium. The endothelium works to keep the inside of arteries toned and smooth, which blood keeps flowing. (Zarbock, et al, 2008)

There are two major types of cholesterol, the HDL (high density lipoprotein) or good cholesterol, and the LDL (low density lipoprotein) or bad cholesterol. When the endothelium

Health impairing behavior, have harmful effects on health or otherwise prek2dispose individuals to disease. Such behaviors include smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, and high dietary fat consumption. The Smoking, alcohol consumption, diet, gaps in primary care services and low screening uptake are all significant determinants of poor health, and changing such behaviors should lead to improved health. (Adler, et al, 1994).

Health Protective Behaviors (HPBs) Health protective behaviors (HPBs) are individual actions taken to protect, promote, or maintain health. These actions are both prescriptive in nature (e.g. nutrition, get adequate exercise) and proscriptive (e.g. smoking and excessive alcohol consumption) (Pender, 2006).

Interest behaviors that have important impacts on the health and wellbeing are based up on two assumptions:

(a) That a significant proportion of the mortality from the leading causes of death is caused by behavior of individuals, and (b) that such behavior is modifiable (Conner.

Reducing Risks, Promoting Health life.. On an annual basis an estimated 17.1 million person die because of Atherosclerosis, which constitutes of 29% of all mortality. (WHO, 2002). The importance of health behaviors in preventing disease and protecting or promoting health has been well demonstrated; however, the relation between health behaviors and health protecting is not clearly under-stood. Understanding how specific health behaviors are associated with health may have implications for designing effective health promotion programs and understanding underlying motivations to practice healthy behaviors in general. (Abd Al_Rida, 2008) Health behavior plays an important role in the prevention, control, protection, treatment and rehabilitation processes of most health problems. These behaviors may be based on decisions or are done regularly and have become routines or habits. Healthy life style is more than just eliminating harmful habits; it is a way of living. Life style can significantly decrease the risk of disease and can be protective health, while significantly increasing the change of living healthfully throughout the life span. A healthy life style is increased or decreased by our level of wellness. (Allender and spradly,