Essay on the CAD Risk Reduction Seminar

Until recently, Coronary artery disease (CAD) was common in high-income nations but is now becoming a preeminent source of morbidity and mortality across the globe. This is attributed to dietary and lifestyle changes that facilitate thickening of arteries hence blocking blood flow to the heart. This causes angina (pain in the chest), heart attack or even sudden death (Kumada et al., 2003). This education activity plan recommends specific changes in diet and lifestyle. Ways of reducing this health risk are summarized here:

Avoid tobacco use: Avoidance of tobacco consumption by preventing inception or cessation for those that have started is an essential way of reducing the health risks of Coronary artery disease.

Controlling body weight: Obesity in on the increase and a body mass index more than 30 confers elevated risks of numerous diseases. Overweight people have a high probability of experiencing two to three-fold increases in the risk of the CAD. There is a need, therefore, to focus on food supply related to macronutrient composition to control body weight.

Conduct daily physical activity and reduce television watching: The contemporary life in developed countries has reduced opportunities to consume energy, whether in moving around, in work environment, or at home. There also has been a dramatic reduction in physical activity due to urbanization and increased availability of motorized transportation to take over walking and bicycle riding. There is a need to undertake regular physical activity in weight control and help prevent obesity which, in the long run, will reduce the health risk of CAD.

Eating a healthy diet: Medically, unhealthy eating habits results to CAD and have been documented more recently. To reduce the health risks, saturated fats can be replaced with unsaturated fats which include sources of omega-3 fatty acids (Orourke et al., 2000). The polyunsaturated fats found in long chain omega-3 fish oil can prevent ventricular arrhythmias and ultimately reduce fatal CAD. The consumption of fruits and vegetables also helps reduce the risk of CAD other cardiac diseases. Subsequently, it is important to reduce intake of cereals with high fiber form and reduce the consumption of sugar and caloric intake.

Assessment

The risk factor approach to prevention of Coronary artery disease does not involve patients who benefit from the preventive therapies. Global risk method allows accurate estimation of risk to guide clinical primary prevention initiatives. The risk is the calculation of absolute risk of having coronary heart disease occasion overtime (Danad et al., 2016). It is based on an empiric comparison that involves significant risk factors like blood pressure and the level of cholesterol in the patient.

Diagnosis

The diagnosis of CAD relies on a patient's medical and family background, risk factors related to CAD, physical examination and results of various tests and procedures conducted on the patient. No single test can be used in the diagnosis of Coronary artery disease but rather a combination.

Planning

The target audience for the plan is all families across the social spectrum and is expected to educate them on how to reduce the effects of Coronary artery disease through various initiatives. The program will be executed through discussion.

Implementation

The educational activity is expected to be implemented within six months. Seminars will be organized in collaboration with the local administration through which discussions will be conducted.

Evaluation

The plan will be evaluated and its effectiveness assessed towards reaching education objectives. Evaluation will be conducted through surveys of program participants to establish the prior knowledge on CAD and attitudes concerning the topics of study. At the end of the workshop, members are expected to repeat significant portions of the survey to track the changes in knowledge, attitude and possibly the overall actions to reduce the risk of the CAD.

References

Danad, I., Szymonifka, J., Twisk, J. W., Norgaard, B. L., Zarins, C. K., Knaapen, P., & Min, J. K. (2016). Diagnostic performance of cardiac imaging methods to diagnose ischaemia-causing coronary artery disease when directly compared with fractional flow reserve as a reference standard: a meta-analysis. European heart journal, 38(13), 991-998.

Kumada, M., Kihara, S., Sumitsuji, S., Kawamoto, T., Matsumoto, S., Ouchi, N., ... & Nakamura, T. (2003). Association of hypoadiponectinemia with coronary artery disease in men. Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology, 23(1), 85-89.

Orourke, R. A., Brundage, B. H., Froelicher, V. F., Greenland, P., Grundy, S. M., Hachamovitch, R., ... & Forrester, J. S. (2000). American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Expert Consensus document on electron-beam computed tomography for the diagnosis and prognosis of coronary artery disease. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 36(1), 326-340.