NR 503 Week 6 Discussion-Open Forum Discussion

NR 503 Week 6 Discussion-Open Forum Discussion

My mother is the person I chose as the subject of this week’s discussion. She is 65 years old. Her health history includes hyperlipidemia, high blood pressure, anxiety, and irritable bowel syndrome. My mother is an ex-smoke who smoked for over twenty years (she quit about 15 years ago and had a left carotid endarterectomy (90% blocked) in 2013. My maternal grandmother died unexpectedly of a massive heart attack when she was 58. An autopsy was performed, and it discovered that she had died of Atherosclerosis.

Heart disease is a major factor in my family history. Since I cannot change my genetics, I must change my environment, such as better eating habits, increasing physical activity, and not smoking (Family history and heart disease, stroke, 2015). Heart disease is strongly linked to family history and is the leading cause of death in the United States (Heart disease and family history, 2015). Heart disease includes high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes (Heart Disease and Family History, 2015). Lifestyle factors, such as an unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, smoking, and obesity, can also cause heart disease (Heart Disease and Family History, 2015). My mother is a first-degree relative as her mother had died of a heart attack related to heart disease.

NR 503 Week 6 Discussion-Open Forum Discussion

I currently have borderline high blood pressure and borderline high cholesterol. The type of high cholesterol I am labeled with is familial hypercholesterolemia. This type is known to cause high levels of bad cholesterol early and can lead to premature heart attacks (Heart Disease and Family History, 2015). I currently take medication for both issues. I also eat better and have never been a smoker. Studies have been done, and the conclusion is that genetic components factor into developing heart disease, including high blood pressure and high cholesterol (Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors, 2015).

References

Cardiovascular disease risk factors. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.world-heart-federation.org/cardiovascular-health/cardiovascular-disease-risk-factors/family-history/

Family history and heart disease, stroke. (2015, August 7). Retrieved from http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/More/MyHeartandStrokeNews/Family-History-and-Heart- Disease-Stroke_UCM_442849_Article.jsp#

Heart disease and family history. (2015, February 12). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/genomics/resources/diseases/heart.htm

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Pick one friend or family member and gather their family health history. Pick one possible genetic risk for disease in that person and provide the following:

•  Gender, age
• Genetic risk for a specific disease
• Define the disease
• Evidence to link risk to development
• Identify if genetics is confounded or linked to any other epidemiological risk factors for disease development that might be modified in this patient.