Assignment On Diagnosed With Serious Health Conditions

Introduction
Pat is a woman aged 52 years and she has moved and rented a house in a regional country
town. However, Pat has been diagnosed with serious health conditions that have increased her
risk of getting CVD. For example, Pat has been diagnosed with high blood pressure which is the
risk factor of CVD. Also, the BMI of Pat is above 30 which means that she is obese. Obesity is
another risk factor for CVD. It’s the lifestyle of Pat that has been exposing her to the conditions
that are risk factors of CVD. For example, Pat likes sugary foods a lot and since sugary foods are
a risk factor for obesity, Pat is therefore at high risk of becoming obese. Also, Pat is not engaging
in any physical activity because of the fear of working out alone. Physical inactivity is also a risk
factor for obesity. Therefore, Pat is at high risk of developing CVD based on the conditions she
has been diagnosed with and the lifestyle she is leaving.
A discussion of the impacts of CVD
Cardiovascular disease is defined as conditions that result when blood vessels are blocked
leading to a heart attack (Agca et al., 2017). Generally, the blood vessels of people with CVD
have been damaged beyond cure (El Hattab et al., 2019). Globally, CVD is a major health issue
because the diseases continue to have a major impact on the health of different populations
across the world regarding the mortality, burden of disease, expenditure, and morbidity (Banks et
al., 2015). However, in Australia, the impact of CVD is even worse especially among women
based on the documented statistics (Heslinga, 2018). This is so because currently, CVD is
the leading cause of illness and death among Australian women causing more than a third of all
the deaths among Australian women (Goh et al., 2014). Currently, more than half a million
Australian women have at least one or more of CVDs (Hajifathalian et al., 2015). Also, 46106
deaths representing 33% occurred in Australia with 21935 of those deaths occurring in men and

24171 females were directly linked to CVD in 2009 (Di Angelantonio et al., 2014). In 2010, it
was established that CVD resulted in more than 16% of all the total burden of disease and as a
result, women with CVD related diseases in Australia were found to be susceptible to co-morbid
conditions which made them at high risk of depression and anxiety (Ball et al., 2015). In
Australia, excessive alcohol consumption is the leading cause of CVD among women (Durairaj,
Oommen & Pillai, 2019). Even though alcohol consumed at a limit reduces the risk of
individuals developing heart disease, most Australian women have been found to over-consume
alcohol which makes them at high risk of CVD (De Nicola & Zoccali, 2015). As of 2017, the
Australian Bureau of Statistics reports that 77.3% of all females had consumed alcohol in the
past year. Another major risk factor of CVD among Australian women is overweight and
obesity. Currently, 27.5% of Australians are obese with 55.7% of them being females (Muntner
et al., 2014).
Discussion of the social determinants
One of the social determinants that have exposed Pat to CVD is high blood pressure.
From the case study, the GP who is Dr. Diamond noticed that the blood pressure of Pat is high
and referred Pat to the local Community Health Center Nurse for some additional support. High
blood pressure is a major risk factor of CVD. This is so because high blood pressure results when
there is a high and long-term force of blood against the walls of the arteries (Poplin et al., 2018).
The excess force to the walls of the arteries causes strain to the arteries and with time, the
arteries become narrowed slowly from the plaque constituting made up of fat, cholesterol, and
other substances which build up over time through a process of atherosclerosis (Sahle et al.,
2016). With time, blood clot starts to form as arteries harden with plaque. It’s this blood clot that
blocks and interrupts the blood flow through the heart muscle and starving the muscle of oxygen

and nutrients that the muscle gets damaged causing a heart attack (Semsarian et al., 2015).
Another social determinant that increases Pat's risk of CVD is obesity. Obesity is defined as the
excessive accumulation of fats in the body and is measured using MBI which is calculated by
dividing the body’s weight in KG by the height of that person in square meters (Tillin et al.,
2014). A person is said to obese when the BMI is over 30. From the case study, the BMI of Pat is
more than 59 which means that she is obese. Obesity increases the risk of CVD because, in obese
people, fats accumulate in the body in excess amount. Excessive accumulation of fat to the
arteries of a person causes blood to clot which blocks and interrupts blood supply to the artery
thereby denying that artery oxygen and nutrients which causes a heart attack (Agca et al., 2017).
A discussion of the behavioral determinants
One of the behavioral determinants that increase Pat’s risk of CVD is a lack of physical
activity. From the case study, even though Pat likes waking up for exercise she is wary of
walking alone and also, she is not able to walk for a long time because she has arthritis. This
means that despite her willingness to engage in physical activity, she remains to be physically
inactive which increases her risk of obesity that causes CVD as described above. Physical
inactivity causes obesity because it reduces the body’s expenditure of fats thereby allowing fats
to accumulate in the body in excess amount (Banks et al., 2015). Excessive accumulation of fats
in the body results in overweight and obesity which as discussed above causes blood clots in the
arteries leading to a heart attack.
Another behavioral determinant that is increasing Pat’s risk of CVD is sweet food. From
the case study, it’s revealed that Pat has a sweet tooth which means that she likes sweet foods.
However, too much consumption of sugary foods leads to weight gain since it leads to the body
storing excessive fats. This is so because most of the sugary foods, for example, corn syrup are