Based upon what you have learned in the previous lesson, Risk Factors and Behaviors, write an essay of no less than 200 words on health behaviors, risk factors, and prevention of coronary artery disease (CAD) through exercise.
Answers
Answer:
The major risk factors
There are many risk factors for CAD and some can be controlled but not others. The risk factors that can be controlled (modifiable) are: High BP; high blood cholesterol levels; smoking; diabetes; overweight or obesity; lack of physical activity; unhealthy diet and stress. Those that cannot be controlled (conventional) are: Age (simply getting older increases risk); sex (men are generally at greater risk of coronary artery disease); family history; and race.
Physical activity or exercise is a part of everyone’s life. However, it is the degree of physical exertion that differs among people. Several evidence-based studies have consistently indicated a positive correlation between physical activity and good health Fortunately, there are three areas of interest that remain relatively consistent in defining physical activity, namely, intensity, duration and frequency. Intensity refers to the degree or extent of exertion and is often presented as a percentage of target heart rate or lung volume (ie, oxygen consumption [VO2]). Duration refers to how long a particular activity is undertaken, and frequency refers to the number of times a given activity is performed.
Given the scope and prevalence of CADs, a population health approach – ‘prevention is better than cure’ – would be the most appropriate model to adopt to deal with CAD-related mortality and morbidity. Prophylactic measures must be dealt with collectively because an ample amount of scientific evidence indicates that lifestyle modifications, including nutritional interventions, increased physical activity, decreased incidence of obesity and smoking cessation, would provide an integrative approach for the prevention of heart disease and stroke. Such preventive approaches would help in reducing not only employee absenteeism, but also the hospital, drug and physician service costs burdening the private and publicly funded health care systems.