Introduction
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States. It's important to learn about the signs and symptoms of this disease, and how you can prevent it. Learning about the causes of cardiovascular disease will help you to understand the imporantce of making health lifestyle choices.
Task
Goal: As you complete this webquest you will be responding to the following essential questions:
- What causes cardiovascular disease?
- How is this disease treated?
- What happens to someone who suffers from cardiovascular disease?
- What can a person do to try and avoid developing cardiovascular disease?
Throughout this webquest you will be asked to read passages, view web pages, or watch videos. After reading you will be required to answer questions related to the material you've read. Please answer these questions on a separate sheet of paper to be handed in to your teacher.
Process
Task I
Answer questions 1 and 2 after reading the following passage:
Mr. Johnson, a top executive in a company that is facing bankruptcy, has just returned from a board meeting when he feels an uncomfortable pressure in the center of his chest. The squeezing sensation does not go away immediately. Mr. Johnson quickly sits down in his desk chair and feels the pain begin to spread down his neck, to his shoulders and down his left arm. He begins to feel faint, nauseated and breaks out in a cold sweat. As his heart begins to race, an intense feeling of apprehension overcomes him. He calls his secretary who dials "911"immedately.
Questions
1. What do you think Mr. Johnson is suffering from?
2. What symptoms are mentioned in the above paragraph that helped you come to your conclusion?
Task II
Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow.
Heart Mechanics - explaining the problem:
Mr. Johnson is rushed to the hospital where his wife and son, Jason, meet up with him. The doctors have already spoken to Mrs. Johnson regarding her husband's condition, but Jason would like the cardiologist, Dr. Miller, to explain some things to him. Jason wants to know why his father had a heart attack, how his heart can be repaired, and if he will recover. Dr. Miller is happy to explain things to Jason.
"Jason, your father has had a heart attack. This involves a blockage of the blood supply to an area of the heart. In your father's case the blockage was brought on by a blood clot in the left coronary artery. This prevented blood from flowing normally to his heart. In your father's case, he recognized the symptoms right away so we were able to give him a clot-dissolving drug called TPA (tissue plasminogen activator). Heart cells can only survive 20 minutes without receiving blood and then they begin to die. If your dad had waited another 10 minutes he would have more serious problems."
1. Based on what you've learned in class, what two substances does the blood need to constantly supply to the cells?
2. If there is a complete or partial blockage of the coronary arteries, blood won't reach all areas of the heart. What do you think will happen to the heart cells that don't get these vital substances from the blood?
Task III
Go to:
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/heartattack/causes
Read the information about "What Causes a Heart Attack" and watch the video (you can use the pause/replay buttons) to answer the following questions:
1. What causes most heart attacks?
2. What is the waxy substance that builds up in arteries?
3. What is healthy heart tissue replaced with after a heart attack?
4. List two things that can lead to the less common cause of a heart attac, a coronary artery spasm:
Task IV
Read the passage below.
Fixing the "plumbing": Treatment
Jason wants to know if Dr. Miller can help his dad so he won't experience another heart attach. Dr. Miller explains.
"First we are going to do a test called an angiogram to see if there are any other blockages in your father's hear. This involves injecting dye into a large artery and then doing an x-ray recording of the dye flowing through the vessels or you can see a narrowing of the vessel. If there are other blockages I will recommend that your father have bypass surgery. This is when we take healthy veins from the leg and transplant them into the heart to restore blood flow.
Please copy the link below and open it in a new tab:
http://www.nhs.uk/video/pages/animationheartbypass.aspx
Watch the video and answer the following questions:
1. What is the name of the blood vessels that supply the heart with blood?
2. Name two things that can injure the lining these vessels:
3. If one of these vessels becomes blocked, what happens to the blood flow to that part of the heart?
4. During bypass surgery, where can a surgeon get healthy vessels to use for the bypass?
Task V
Heart Smarts: Follow-up Care
Jason asks Dr. Miller, "Why did this happen to my dad? I thought only old people had heart attacks." Dr. Miller responds.
"It's true that the majority of heart attacks occur in individuals over the age of 65, but people of any age can experience a heart attack. especially if they have risk factors. Your dad has a stressful job, he is overweight and also says he doesn't exercis much. His cholesterol level is high. These conditions lead to a buildup of plaque in his vessels, a condition known as atherosclerosis.
Please use the image below to answer the questions:
1. What is happening to the diameter of the arteries with atherosclerosis?
2. How could this lead to a heart attack?
EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY
Create a pamplet for Mr. Johnson that advises him on how to keep his heart healthy. Be sure to include information about diet, weight, cholesterol, smoking, exercise, stress, blood pressure, and anything else you feel is relevant.
Feel free to use Microsoft Word or Microsoft Publisher to create an antual pamphlet or you can reate a flyer on a single sheet of paper.
Conclusion
Congratulations! You have finished the webquest for the Case Study in Cardiovascular Disease. Now that you have read and/or viewed all of the information, and completed the questions, you should be able to answer the essential questions noted in our task.
- What causes cardiovascular disease?
- How is this disease treated?
- What happens to someone who suffers from cardiovascular disease?
- What can a person do to try and avoid developing cardiovascular disease?