Essays on Rheumatic Heart Disease

Pathophysiology of Rheumatic Fever

Introduction Rheumatic Fever (RF) is the type of inflammatory disease that can develop due to untreated or inadequately treated throat infection (scarlet fever or strep throat) caused by a type of bacteria known as streptococcus (Carapetis, McDonald & Wilson, 2005). This paper is going to cover pathophysiology of the Rheumatic Fever. It will begin with the symptoms associated with RF. A description of mechanisms or processes that take place in a person infected with RF will be described. This will be followed by a discussion of the causes of RF. There is a section dedicated to the pathophysiology of RF ...

A total of 57 million deaths were reported worldwide in 2008, and the majority of those deaths were caused by either non-cardiovascular diseases (36 million; 63%) or cardiovascular diseases (17.3 million; 30%) according to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2011). The highest mortality rates are associated with ischemic heart diseases and cerebrovascular diseases, which account for 45% and 29% of the cardiovascular-related deaths in men and 37% and 33% of cardiovascular-related deaths in women, respectively (see Figure 1). Ischemic heart disease is considered the most common cardiovascular cause of death as it accounts for 7.6 million deaths worldwide (Institute ...

VENOUS STASIS ULCER

Venous stasis ulcers commonly occur in the legs due to venous insufficiency or poor venous blood drainage. Veins of the legs have valves in then which ensures a proper unidirectional flow of blood towards heart. In venous stasis, these valves are damaged, thus the venous blood accumulates in the legs instead of being pumped upwards. A prolonged pooling of blood in the leg leads to increased pressure in the affected area thus causing a break in the skin and causing ulcers. The causes for venous stasis could be smoking, occupations requiring prolonged hours of standing, obesity or deep vein thrombosis.

Clinical ...

The human heart, which is roughly the size and shape of a man’s closed fist, contains 4 chambers and 4 valves. The 4 chambers of the heart that divide its internal cavity into four regions are the right atrium, right ventricle, left atrium and the left ventricle. The atria constitute the upper chambers and the ventricles comprise the lower chambers. The two atria have thin walls and receive venal blood. Deoxygenated blood from the systemic veins is received by the right atrium. The left atrium receives blood which is oxygenated from the pulmonary veins. The two ventricles have thicker ...

Introduction

Rheumatic fever (RF), or acute rheumatic fever (ARF), is an autoimmune complication caused by the human-specific bacterial pathogen group A (B-hemolytic) streptococcus (GAS), Streptococcus pyogenes. S. pyogenes is a Gram-positive aerobic bacterium that is coccoid or spherical in shape and usually occurs in pairs or chains. It produces hemolysin that forms a clear zone around the colonies when grown on blood agar. It has been designated as part of group A via Lancefield serotyping because it displays the carbohydrate antigen A on its cell wall. It is non acid-fast, non-spore forming, and may or may not have capsules. It has generally ...

- The Global Problem of Cardiovascular Disease

Introduction

Cardiovascular disease is a major global health problem that continues claiming the lives of many people. The disease requires a special attention of the global organizations because if they do not address it with immediacy, it threatens to kill more people in the future. The current projections show that by 2030, the cardiovascular disease shall claim more than 23.3 million lives each year (Global status report on non-communicable diseases 2010 p.1). In the united states of America, The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) explains that one out of four women die from ...