Task
In some cases, there is more wrong with a person’s heart than an irregular heartbeat, faulty valves or artery plaque. Possible heart problems are:
• cardiomyopathy (any disease of heart muscle; usually causes an enlarged heart)
• autoimmune disease (in which the body’s immune system attacks the heart).
Heart transplants are often the only option for some sufferers of heart disease. In the future artificial hearts may replace heart transplants.
You are about to gather information to help you outline areas of current research with regards to heart transplants and artificial hearts as well as their social impact on society. (see handout)
- To process the information, you could put it into a table, with columns such as Researchers, Findings, When research was done, Success with the method, Impact on society.
- Analyse the information by identifying common areas of research to see if their impact on society is consistent
Think about these questions while researching:
- Discuss the impacts on society with others.
- Who do you think are the best candidates for heart transplants? If these people are only young adults, who else would be impacted on if their lives are saved? What about their economic value to society?
Once you have gathered the information, you are to design a newspaper article, report, or advertisement highlighting the developements in heart transplants and their impact on society to summarise what you have learnt
Also, complete the table Exercise 1.2 on heart conditions