The Assignment on Cardiovascular Disease

1
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in America
A group of progressive diseases that affects the lungs and obstructs the flow of air in
it is known as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. According to Healthline.com, over 65
million people in the world are currently suffering from moderate to severe chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease. The chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has no cure at
present, thus, making its prevention and treatment extremely important. Long-term disability
and death are the two most severe consequences of this group of disease. The most important
form of the disease group includes emphysema, in which the body’s lung is getting damaged
over time and the other is chronic bronchitis, in which the lung produces long-term mucus
and cough. The common symptoms of this disease group include chest tightness, wheezing,
physical activities leading to shortness of breath, respiratory infections, and chronic cough
with mucus. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease is the third leading cause of death. The U.S. Department of
Health & Human Services estimates that over 16 million people in America are currently
suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. To address this issue, the U.S.
Congress requested a strategic framework to be formed, which led to the formation of COPD
National Action Plan.
The following sections of the paper will discuss in detail about the incidence of
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the United States of America along with the social
determinants of the disease, epidemiological studies conducted on it and the role of primary
care nurses in addressing the chosen health care issue.
According to the World Health Organisation, the social determinants of health is
known as the basic characteristics associated with the population that helps to categorize the
health issue in a particular region, such as where the person is born, grow, work and live.
Cardiovascular Disease in the United States of America
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CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE 2
With the analysis of social determinants of a particular health issue, the region in which the
prevalence of disease would be higher can be determined.
Health disparities can lead to being one of the leading cause of the increase in the
prevalence of the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Multiple socioeconomic factors that
contribute to health disparities are access to health care, employment, stress, income,
education, genetic susceptibility and residential segregation (Pleasants, Riley & Mannino
2016). Other social determinants of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the United
States of America include race and ethnicity, economic, social justice and health equity.
Societies in America are highly stratified, leading to disproportionate sharing of
resources, where the advantaged group have more control over the share of resources. The
socially and economically disadvantaged group are more exposed to suffering from chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease due to lack of resource to address the health issue properly.
The socio-economically disadvantaged group consists of people with low age, a lower degree
of education, people with less physical activities and the ones with physical insecurity.
Another important social determinant of the chosen health disease is race and
ethnicity. Ethical and racial minorities have to suffer from a greater proportion of poor health
services. The lack of linguistic and cultural competence in the health care professionals is one
of the prime cause that keeps the racial and ethical minorities away from accessing adequate
health care services for chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and increases the burden of
poor health in such particular segment of the society.
Access to health care is one important social determinant that can promote healthy
living amongst the susceptible population. The disadvantaged group in the society have
limited access to health care services, increasing their risk of exposure to chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease. Social justice can be ensured to reduce the incidence of chronic
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in the United States of America
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CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE 3
obstructive pulmonary diseases by providing all segments of society with an equal share of
resources, such as food security, living conditions and easy access to health care.
A study was conducted by Kurth, Doney & Weinmann (2017) with the aim to
compare the National Institute For Occupational Safety And Health Chronic Obstructive
Pulmonary Disease-Specific Job Exposure Matrix (NIOSH COPD JEM) assigned occupation
exposure levels and get an expert evaluation on the occupational information for on
occupational exposure and its effect on health. The research findings conclude that organic
dust, diesel exhausts and sensitizers along with overall exposure, had the highest agreement.
Another study conducted by Kim (2017) aimed at revising the epidemiology and
definition of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. According to the authors, persistent
airway obstruction characterizes the disease group and is considered treatable and
preventable disease currently, unlike the older days where it was considered only partially
reversible. Expiratory airflow reduction defines the airway obstruction. The most common
disease set under the umbrella of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is emphysema and
chronic bronchitis. In chronic bronchitis, the patient suffers from chronic productive cough
for at least a duration of 3 months for two years straight. On the other hand, emphysema is
defined by the permanent enlargement of terminal bronchioles and airspaces distal.
According to the authors, people with indicative of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
show be presented with more than one suspected.
Ntritsos et al. (2018) conducted a study to estimate the prevalence of COPD on the
basis of gender. According to the authors, the general perception towards chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease is that majority of the diseased individuals consist of older men. However,
the findings from the research study, the prevalence rate for men stands out to be at 9%,
whereas, for women, it stands out to be at 6%. These results indicate that the general
perception of only old men suffer more from the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in the United States of America
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