Cardiovascular Disease
CardiovascularDisease
CardiovascularDisease
Theleading cause of death in America is attributed to heart diseaseswhile the third top cause of mortality are strokes. The percentage ofindividuals dying increases as people get older between 65 years ofage onwards. Heart disease and stroke record a rate of more than 40%of deaths of individuals between 65 to 74 years. The purpose of thepaper is to expound on the age groups of African Americans affectedby cardiovascular disease.
Theparticipants were aged sixty-five years and above, chosen randomlyfrom California, Maryland, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. The studyconsisted of a 57.6% female and 15.7% men of African Americans whowere required to provide written consent. The paper focused on fourcardiovascular outcomes namely stroke, Coronary Heart Disease (CHD),Myocardial infarction (MI) and Congestive Heart Failure (CHF).Semi-annual contacts were made over the telephone to family membersand participants, and it was discovered that there were newcardiovascular events (Arnold,Psaty, Kuller, Burke, Manolio, Fried, & Kronmal, 2005)
Calculationof the incidence rates was accomplished using the number of events oryears, one has been at risk over the time follow-up is made. Ifpatients did not have a confirmed history, they were consideredseparately for the risk and were stratified by an age group for fiveyears. There were few African Americans who were above the age of 80to provide any interval beyond this age. According to the report,while women had less CVD, diabetes mellitus, they recorded high rateshypertension and high cholesterol in comparison to the men. Thereport also established that African Americans were less educated,had more cases of diabetes mellitus and hypertension to theCaucasians (Arnold,Psaty, Kuller, Burke, Manolio, Fried, & Kronmal, 2005).They could get a baseline history of stroke or CHF with a subclinicalrate of greater than 40% of cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Inthe first year of follow-up, CHD recorded high levels among men thanwomen and increased with age. There were no differences in theoutcome of the race according to survival models that calculated therisks associated with age, race, and sex. In the years above 65,there was an increase of CHD and MI by 5%, while CHF recorded a 9%increase. The men recorded high rates of MI in comparison to women,but leveled up in men after 75 years old.
Thefindings established that men could develop CHD, MI or CHF and womencan get stroke and CHF. Incidences of CHD in older women compared tothat of men who were less than 75 years. At the first diagnosis, CHFof African American was younger than Caucasians with a rate of 1.5years. Men recorded high levels of CHD and MI than women all throughold age. However, the reason behind the high levels has not beenestablished. Women`s failure to have an increased rate of CHD and MIwas attributed to low levels of women who remain at risk throughouttheir life and the inability of having the precision of estimates.Diabetes mellitus and hypertension have been discovered to be riskfactors for illness, such as stroke, CHD, MI and CHF (Arnold,Psaty, Kuller, Burke, Manolio, Fried, & Kronmal, 2005).
Thestudy was successful because of long-term follow-up, conductingadjudication of events and cohort based on populations. The studyfailed to have event numbers in some subgroups such as the case of astroke and MI cases in African Americans. The research recommendsthat estimates are used with caution.
Insummary, there is need for aggressive public health programs gearedtowards reducing the rate of incidences more so with the older adultsthat are at a risk of getting CHD, stroke, and CHF. Preventivemeasures have an impact in reducing the health care costs that comeas a result of CVD in African Americans.
Reference
Arnold,A. M., Psaty, B. M., Kuller, L. H., Burke, G. L., Manolio, T. A.,Fried, L. P., & Kronmal, R. A. (2005). Incidence ofcardiovascular disease in older Americans: the cardiovascular healthstudy. Journalof the American Geriatrics Society, 53(2),211-218.
No related posts.