Cardiovascular disease

1) Kaitlyn Boggs:

After reading the "In-Depth" section on cardiovascular disease, I found that there was a lot that I didn't know about cardiovascular disease and all of the factors that play a role in addressing it and reducing your risks. I personally do not have a history of cardiovascular disease myself, but some members of my extended family do. For my family, there are risk factors from both sides of my family. On my mom's side, my grandpa had a heart attack a few years ago and was hospitalized for this. No one else on her side of the family has shown any signs of this so far so that's good, but it's also smart to keep in mind that this did happen. On my dad's side, my grandpa suffered from hypertension but has never had a heart attack or stroke because of this so far. With these being on both sides of my family, there are some potential risks for my parents and siblings as well. That being said, I'm going to make sure to stay aware of my physical activity and daily behaviors as a whole because these can also increase the risk of HTN, along with the family history that I have. 

2) Lindsay, 

Since coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, it is important to understand the risk factors associated with this in order to prevent this. The risk factors include being overweight or obese, being inactive and not working out enough, smoking, type 2 diabetes, inflammation, and abnormal blood lipids. Abnormal blood lipids refer to your cholesterol levels and the higher your cholesterol levels, the more at risk you are for cardiovascular disease. It is important to have your blood pressure checked regularly if you have a family history of cardiovascular disease. My family has a history of high blood pressure, so it is important that my family members and I have our blood pressure taken regularly as a precaution. I do not believe that my family has a history of cardiovascular disease, however, my mom was adopted so we do not have a complete picture of our family history. Because of this and the known history of high blood pressure, it is important to take steps to avoid getting cardiovascular disease. These steps can include consuming a healthy diet that is low in trans fatty acids, eating less sodium to manage your blood pressure, and take medications for your blood pressure if necessary. 

3) Grace Liebhart :-

According to the risk factors that I read in the "In Depth" portion of the chapter, I don't think I fit any of the risk factors. The first one is overweight/obesity. According to my BMI I am considered "overweight" but I am a very active person and a lot of my weight is in muscle. So for the first factor I don't apply. The second factor is inactivity, I am a cheerleader here at Lindenwood and I am on the competition team. We have practice for 3 hours at least 3 times a week. And the nights I don't have practice I am at the gym. Or if I am feeling good I will go to the gym and practice in the same day. I have never not been active. I don't qualify for this factor either. The third factor is smoking, I have been an athlete for basically all of my life, there would be no benefit or reason for me to pick that up. I don't qualify for this factor either. The fourth factor is Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. I don't have diabetes and I don't think that I will, no one in my family has this and I don't plan on getting to that point therefore I don't quality for this factor either. The fifth factor is Inflammation, I don't have that for the sixth factor abnormal blood lipids either. I currently don't apply to any of these factors. I don't have any history of cardiovascular disease and neither does anyone in my family.