Heart diseases among Alaska natives and the American Indians in America
American Indians and the Alaska natives are faced by a threat of heart of heart diseases which is the leading cause of mortality in the whole of the United States of America. In the year 2003 the number of death cases as a result of heart diseases were over two thousands. American Indians and Alaska natives originated from North and South America with minority coming from the Central America. Other tend to maintain their tribal affiliation or their community attachments. Alaska native and American Indian include all those who marked the American Indian check box or reported to entries like Inupiat, Navajo, Yupik or a Central American Indian Groups or may be South American Indian group.
In the year 2010 a census was conducted in the whole of the United States of America.
According to year 2010 national census these two groups of people recorded a number of about 5.2 million American Indians and Alaska Natives living in the soil of the United States of America. In percentage form this covers around 1.7% of the U.S total population. Stake holders estimated the population number for American Indians and Alaska Natives to be 8.6 million by July 1 2050. This will comprise a 2% percent of the general population.
Stroke and other heart diseases are the major causes of increased mortality rate in American Indians and the Alaska Natives. Stroke has a major disadvantage in that it increases the number of people with disabilities in the selected study group.
The population of the American Indians and Alaska Natives
The median age is 30.7 years which younger compared with 36.2 of the total US total population.
The state of California carries the day with the greatest number of 696600 American Indian and Alaska natives seconded by Oklahoma with 401100 and Arizona comes in third with 334700. Alaska has the highest proportion of the American Indian and Alaska natives in its population by 20% followed by Oklahoma and Mexico city with each having 11%. Los Angeles County has a population of 154000 American Indians and Alaskan Natives.
25% of the total population of the American Indian and Alaskan natives aged five years and above speak the other language apart from English.
Heart Disease facts and stroke facts
The sixth leading cause of Death in the American Indian and Alaskan native is heart diseases and stroke.
Diabetes causes a great factor which contribute to the development of cardiovascular complications.
Cigarette smoking which highest in Northern Plains scores 44.1% while in Southwest it scores 21.2% among the population and Alaska comes in with a score of 39% of the total population, which a great risk factor towards heart diseases and stroke.
In Michigan, Wisconsin, South Dakota and North Dakota these areas record a great deal of deaths as a result of heart diseases.
Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota and North Dakota are the counties which recorded a greatest number of deaths due to stroke
In comparison with the other racial and ethnic groups of the United States, American Indian and the Alaskan natives tend to from heart diseases at a relatively younger age.
Steps to control the effect of heart disease and stroke among the selected group of Alaska natives and American Indians.
Avoiding and controlling high level of cholesterol in the blood. It is a well-known fact that high cholesterol levels in the blood poses a great health risk to an individual. To avoid this problem, individuals have been advised on importance of eating a diet with low saturated fat and cholesterol. Regular exercising in order to keep a healthy body is highly advocated. The general population is being advised to have a regular medical checkup after five years to determine their levels of cholesterol in the body.
Treatment of atrial fibrillation is an important exercise since it helps prevent clotting of blood which lead to stroke. In this case medical prescription comes in handy to prevent clotting of blood under any circumstances.
The general public needs to be educated on the dangers of the alcohol use in their bodies. This will in turn reduce the risk of hypertension heart diseases and stroke. Rehabilitation centers should be established in order to curb alcohol use among addicts.
Physical activity and good nutrition especially a plant based diet can help lower hypertension and cholesterol levels in an individual. Plant based diet like fresh vegetables, fruits and nuts will keep a doctor away a little longer than usual. Avoiding white salt on the table can reduce tremendously the risk of hypertension.
Maintaining a healthy weight by checking the Body Mass Index ratio can help an individual improve in his or her health accordingly. Maintaining a healthy weight of be BMI that ranges between 25 and 29.9 is quite crucial in our day to day activity.Heart diseases facts and statistics
In the United States of America, heart disease remains the number one killer disease in the region. People from all background and races as well as ages get the condition.
- About 600000 people die of heart disease in USA annually implying one in every four deaths. In both genders, heart disease remains a leading cause of death where more than half of the deaths due to heart disease in year 2009 were reported in men.
- Coronary heart diseases being one of the most common type of heart disease kills more than 385000 people in a year.
- 715000 American citizens suffer from heart attack annually. Of which 525000 have a first attack and the rest have a second or subsequent heart attack.
- $108.9 billion is used to treat coronary heart diseases annually. This amount include the cost of health care services, lost productivity and medications.
Heart disease risk factors
Heart diseases can be attributed to a variety of factors which include some life style factors which can put somebody in to a high chances of developing heart complication. It is a duty and responsibility of anybody to take necessary precaution in order to lower the risk of heart diseases by addressing these factors accordingly. The control of risk factors is a special need especially by victims of heart diseases.
Blood cholesterol levels: cholesterol is a substance kind of waxy substance produced by the liver or consumed in certain foods like milk and eggs. The liver makes just the required amount of cholesterol needed by the body. When it is present in excess in the body the extra cholesterol is stored in the walls of the arteries including the coronary arteries. This gradually develops into atherosclerosis and other complication.
Hypertension: high blood pressure in the arteries is too high contributes as a risk factor to the heart diseases.in most cases there are no symptoms to signal high blood pressure. Lowering the blood pressure can be lowered by complete lifestyle make up and medication also.
Diabetes Mellitus: high blood sugar levels above the optimum levels increases the chances of heart disease. 75% of people with diabetes die of some sort of blood vessel disease or heart disease. The best thing for people with diabetes is to learn how to manage and control the risk factor.
Heart disease prevention
- Hippocrates once said that let your food be source of your medicine. Eat a healthy diet made up of foods with low in saturated fats and cholesterol and high in fiber to prevent high blood cholesterol. Consume plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Avoid as much as you can white table salt.
- Maintain a healthy weight corresponding to your height. Being overweight increases chances of the heart diseases. Determine your body max index in order to maintain a healthy weight.
- Exercise regularly: physical activities like running ensures that the body burns excess fats and removes the waste materials out of the body through sweating.
- Avoid smoking since cigarette smoking introduces nicotine in the blood system hence increasing the rate of heartbeat. Smoking also leads to complication of other diseases like lung cancer and throat cancer.
- Avoid alcohol since alcohol promotes high blood pressure. Again alcohol tends to drain away water from the body.
Recommendation for aspirin use to prevent cardiovascular diseases
Aspirin can be taken by an individual to prevent heart disease and stroke. This medication varies from one individual to the other. Men with no history of heart disease or stoke aged 45-79 years used aspirin to prevent myocardial infarctions.
References
Anderson JL, Adams CD, Antman EM, et al. 2011 ACCF/AHA focused update incorporated into the ACC/AHA 2007 guidelines for the management of patients with unstable angina/non-st-elevation myocardial infarction. Circulation. 2011;123:e426-579.
Becker, RC, Meade, TW, Berger, PB, et al. The primary and secondary prevention of coronary artery disease: American College of Chest Physicians Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guidelines (8th Edition). Chest 2008; 133:776S
Brott TG, Halperin JL, Abbara S, et al. 2011 ASA/ACCF/AHA/AANN/AANS/ACR/ASNR/CNS/SAIP/SCAI/SIR/SNIS/SVM/SVS guidelines on the management of patients with extracranial carotid and vertebral artery disease. Circulation. 2011;123.
