NUR 600 Discussion 6.1: Cardiovascular Diagnoses

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NUR 600 Discussion 6.1: Cardiovascular Diagnoses

Cardiovascular disorders are among the health problems that affect a significant proportion of the population globally in the modern world. The disease burden attributed to cardiovascular disorders is high. Patients incur high healthcare costs and decrease in their overall quality of life. Nurses and other healthcare providers must utilize evidence-based interventions to improve outcomes for the affected populations. This paper explores a most common cardiovascular disorder and a least common one and their differentiation.

Hypertension is one of the most common cardiovascular disorder. It is characterized by the elevation of blood pressure above 130/90 mmHg. If left untreated, hypertension causes other health problems such as stroke, heart attack, renal failure, and cardiomegaly. Patients affected by hypertension experience symptoms that include nosebleeds, headaches, edema, shortness of breath, vision changes, vomiting, anxiety, seizures, and chest pain (Mills et al., 2020; Oliveros et al., 2020).

One of the least common cardiovascular diagnoses is rheumatic heart disease. It is a complication of heart valves that arises from rheumatic fever. Patients with a history of untreated or poorly treated streptococcal infection develop this condition. The diagnosis is reached when a patient presents with specific symptoms alongside a recent history of strep infection. The most common symptoms include fever, joint pain and swelling, nodules, lattice-like skin rash, chest pain, shortness of breath, and lethargy (Beaton et al., 2022; Marijon et al., 2021).

One of the ways to differentiate between hypertension and rheumatic heart disease is by obtaining comprehensive history from the patient. A patient with hypertension will not have a history of strep infection. The other approach is by undertaking diagnostic investigations such as electrocardiogram. The blood pressure is elevated in hypertension while it is not in rheumatic heart disease.

Overall, hypertension and rheumatic heart disease are some of the cardiovascular health problems with considerable population impact. Hypertension is more common as compared to rheumatic heart disease. They differ based on symptoms and diagnostic findings.

References

Beaton, A., Okello, E., Rwebembera, J., Grobler, A., Engelman, D., Alepere, J., Canales, L., Carapetis, J., DeWyer, A., Lwabi, P., Mirabel, M., Mocumbi, A. O., Murali, M., Nakitto, M., Ndagire, E., Nunes, M. C. P., Omara, I. O., Sarnacki, R., Scheel, A., … Steer, A. C. (2022). Secondary Antibiotic Prophylaxis for Latent Rheumatic Heart Disease. New England Journal of Medicine, 386(3), 230–240. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2102074

Marijon, E., Mocumbi, A., Narayanan, K., Jouven, X., & Celermajer, D. S. (202

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