Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is one of the heart diseases which cause death among people in the United States. Cardiovascular diseases are primarily caused by diets that have high saturated fat contents e.g. cheese and fast foods, as well as food containing poisonous toxins (Robison et. al., 2014). The disease affects different structures and the general functioning of the heart. Among the structures affected include the blood vessels, the coronary artery, aorta and the heart valves. Functions of the heart that are affected are the heart rhythms, and it can also cause both heart failure and heart attack. Various researches and articles present problems that are associated with the CVD. These problems are associated with the atherosclerosis; that affects the overall circulatory system. The American Heart Association (2014) identified problems associated with CVD to develop from the affected heart functions and the associated heart valves and vessels. Thus, such problems are cardiomyopathy, coronary heart disease, the aorta disease, arrhythmias, heart valve disease and the heart muscle disease.
Treatment of the CVD has been identified to be expensive and rarely affordable to many people in the US. According to the CDC (2011), the cost of treating CVD was approximately $444 billion which can be translated as $1 for every $6 that the US spends on health management. These figures have been projected to triple come 2030. Coming up from approximately $172 billion in the year 2010 to about $276 billion in the year 2030 (American Heart Association, 2014; Jaff, 2013).
There are a number of causes of the CVD. Among these, lifestyle has been more peculiar with the majority of the heart patients relating their conditions to their way of life. Among the lifestyle risk factors include diet, the persons weight (BMI), the rate of exercise that one does and alcohol uptake, among others (American Heart Association, 2014). Diet as a risk factor arises from unhealthy foods that one consumes such as foods produced through inorganic farming. Such foods are suspected to promote the prevalence of CVD among millions of US citizens who continually rely on inorganic foods.
Organic foods are undoubtedly a healthier alternative to the conventionally grown foods since they are not grown with synthetic chemical fertilizers or pesticides (Nagourney, 2007). The pesticides pose a significant threat to human health since these causes cardiovascular diseases. Also, the Environmental Protection agency has identified that a number of the herbicides and fungicides are potentially carcinogenic and can, therefore, cause cancer and other heart related complications (National Cancer Institute, 2011). Examples of pesticides that might be present in foods include organochlorines, thiocarbamates, organoarsenic compounds and organophosphates.
The Environmental Work Group and the Natural Resources defense council have also established that millions of children in America are exposed to levels of pesticides in their food that are unsafe (The George Mateljan foundation, 2014). Some of the pesticides are neurotoxins and can, therefore, cause damage to the nervous system and the brain. The neurotoxins are poisonous hence harmful for human consumption. Additionally, various researchers contend that the adolescents and children are particularly vulnerable to the cancer-causing effects of some pesticides. This is mainly because the body is highly sensitive to the impact of these chemicals especially during periods of high development and growth (Mosbergen, 2014).
A heart-healthy diet can, therefore, reduce one’s risk of getting a heart disease or stroke. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) established that a diet is indeed one of the significant sources of pesticide exposure (Robinson et al., 2014). Consequently, eating organic foods significantly lowers the CVD prevalence rate.
References
American Heart Association (2014). What is Cardiovascular Disease? Retrieved from < http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Caregiver/Resources/WhatisCardiovascularDisease/What-is-Cardiovascular-Disease_UCM_301852_Article.jsp
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2011). Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention. Retrieved from < http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/aag/dhdsp.htm
Jaff, M. (2013, February 01). The Economics of Cardiovascular Disease. Heart Center News Retrieved from <http://www.massgeneral.org/heartcenter/about/newsarticle.aspx?id=3973
Mosbergen, D. (2014, July 12). Organic Food has more antioxidants, Less Pesticide Residue: Study. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/12/organic-food-study_n_5579174.html
Nagourney, E. (2007, July 18). Organic Foods May help against Heart Diseases. The New York Times. Retrieved from <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/17/health/17iht-snvital.1.6694779.html?_r=1&.
National Cancer Institute (2011, June 16). Agricultural Health Study. National Cancer Institute. Retrieved from <http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/ahs
Robinson, L., Maya, P., & Smith, M. (2014). Heart Healthy Diet Tips. Helpguide.org. Retrieved from <http://www.helpguide.org/articles/diet-weight-loss/heart-healthy-diet-tips.htm
The George Mateljan foundation (2014). What are the problems with processed foods? Retrieved from < http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=george&dbid=107
