Secondary prevention in coronary heart disease (CHD) Essay

Secondary prevention in coronary heart disease (CHD) - Essay Example A health survey done in England in 2006 suggests that the prevalence of CHD in men was 6.5 percent and in women was only 4 percent; however, these rates are increasing with age (British Heart Foundation Statistics Website, 2010). In Scotland, the prevalence of CHD is much higher with percentage rate of 4.6 than the 4.3 percent reported cases in Wales and 3.5 percent in England (British Heart Foundation Statistics Website, 2010). From the aforementioned data, it can be observed that the variation of prevalence of CHD is wide within the United Kingdom. On the other hand, the prevalence of CHD in England alone ranges from 2.3 percent in London to 4.9 in North East of England. In Scotland only, the prevalence rate of CHD is higher compared to that in England where 3.9 percent cases were observed in Lothian and Orkney and 8.4 percent in Shetland (British Heart Foundation Statistics Website, 2010). The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (2007) noted that death rate from CHD in the UK is more than 103,000 deaths per year and considered to be one of the highest in Europe, and this rate varies with age, gender, socio – economic status, ethnicity and geographic location in the UK. Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (2007) and the British Heart Foundation (2008) noted that various types of aetiology with a number of potentially modifiable risk factors are identified with cardiovascular diseases. These are: Among the aforementioned risk factors of acquiring CHD and peripheral vascular disease, smoking is believed to be the principal risk factor causing it. During the increasing myocardial demand, smoking have shown to be associated with impaired coronary blood flow responses, and in patients having coronary artery diseases, smoking is noted to contribute to myocardial ischemia. Libby and Theroux (2005) and Leon 2009 stated that atherogenesis, which is considered to be the most important cause and the underlying foundation of coronary heart