Senior Fitness: Categories of Hypertension

Senior Fitness
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Question one
Cardiac vascular diseases are a global health threat that affects people from all walks of life. They are a group of disorders that affect the heart and blood vessels and include cerebrovascular, coronary heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, to name a few. These diseases cause severe health problems including permanent disability, brain and memory loss and unfortunately, death. In the United States, for example, in every 37 seconds, a life is lost to cardiovascular disease. Similarly, the annual cardiac diseases cost exceeds $219 billion (McMahon et al., 2017).
Thus said, cardiac rehabilitation programs are valuable treatments for cardiac disease patients. They are recommended for cardiac patients, especially after coronary stent placement, stable cardiac systolic heart failure, coronary artery bypass grafting, valve surgery, acute coronary syndrome, to mention a few (McMahon et al., 2017). Cardiac rehabilitation program entails three phases all interconnected to achieve better patient outcomes. Phase I –starts in the hospital and involve physical and emotional support by rehabilitation teams and comprises motion exercises, incentive spirometry exercises, diaphragmatic breathing, ambulation and stair climbing. Phase II – outpatient phase – involves activities in the rehabilitation department while the physiologist monitor patients responses to exercise. On the other hand, Phase III – maintenance program includes supervised but non-monitored programs in the cardiac rehabilitation centres.
Categories of hypertension
Hypertension causes undesirable health problems for years before symptoms develop. When uncontrolled, the disease can lead to poor quality of life, disability and even in severe cases, fatal heart attack or stroke. The disease can be categorized into two; primary and secondary hypertension. Patients with primary hypertension do not suffer from other medical condition. On the other hand, secondary hypertension causes high blood pressure in major vital organs, including kidneys, heart, arteries and endocrine system. Patients with secondary hypertension experiences sleep apnea, blocked renal arteries, unusual levels of hormones controlling blood pressure (Rader et al., 2013).
Diastole and systole are two phases of the cardiac cycle and plays a vital role in the movement of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood in the body. Systole is the process through which the heart contracts to pump blood out. On the other hand, diastole happens when the heart relaxes to allow blood inside the heart.
Physical activity plays a vital role in improving individual flexibility and strength. Strength training activities include climbing stairs, dance, weight lifting, hill walking, cycling, working with resistance bands, squats, sit-ups, push-ups, shoveling and heavy gardening, to name a few. High risks patients can engage in lighter strengths exercise such as dance, push-ups, cycling, hill walking to mention a few.
Question three
Hyperlipidemia is a condition characterized by too many lipids and fats like cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood. Hypercholesterolemia is an example of hyperlipidemia –and involves significant amou...