Becky Maddox, RN, BSN
Healthcare Science Instructor
What is cardiovascular disease?
Cardiovascular Disease can be best identified as any disease that pertains to the heart muscle or the vessels involved with the heart. There are many afflictions that can be described as cardiovascular disease Arteriosclerosis, Valve prolapse, Atherosclerosis or a diseased heart Dysrhythmia for example.
What are the primary reasons for cardiovascular disease?
High Cholesterol Diets, Stress, Heredity, Age, Pulmonary tension, Other vascular malfunctions.
Do you think heart disease is more common is some regions of the US and less common in others?
We use to see more cardiovascular disease cases in the southern and Midwestern states for the reason given as the high content of fried and fatty foods that were eaten in these area. We see today a large rise in obesity that is nationwide and this too contributes to a higher incidence of CVD. Dr.’s and research now point to increase stress as a major factor for CVD, given the fast pace life style that American lead.
If so, what are some reasons why heart disease would be higher in some areas and lower in others?
I think it is nationwide and not really localized as once was.
What additional information should I seek as I try to answer this question?
The American Heart Association, The medical Journal of Medicine
Interviews
Jennifer Worley
AP Human Geography Instructor
Are there any models I can use to visually display the spatial distribution of cardiovascular disease in the US?
Check out the CDC sight that I put in the last question.
What can you tell me about spatial distribution?Spatial distribution is key to human geography as well as other aspects of the world. It is referring to the physical location of geographic phenomena across Space.
What are some Human Geography terms that I can incorporate into my project?
This is hard to say – depends on which approached you take with it. You could possible use the Demographic Transition Model to see which stage of development a country is in related to the CVD. You could refer to Wallerstein’s Three-tiered structure economically to see if it is indeed true that those countries who are Core more than likely have more cases of CVD. Maybe even look at average calorie consumption per capita. I don’t think diffusion would be helpful because it isn’t contagious, stimulus, or relocation. You could refer to the Five themes of geography with location, region, place, and even perception of place (again, don’t think the human-environment interaction would work here)
What are some reasons why heart disease would be higher in some regions and lower in others?
This is a difficult one. I think it could go either way. First, if we were just looking at the US in particular I would say the poorer states with high obesity rates would be a contributing factor. I also think that where the weather is colder – people get out less to exercise – which could be another contributing factor. If we are looking at the worldwide level – I would think logically to point that CVD would be found more in Developed Countries. Why? There is more wealth to buy more food. You would probably think though this doesn’t make sense since we do have better medical care than third world nations. However, I do not see the lack of medical care in those nations being an issue since people are more than likely active (having traditional farming methods where they are very labor intensive) and they do not have the income or even resources to buy the unhealthy food. Think what they eat there and compare it to a Developed Country. Just my opinion!
What additional information should I seek to further study the distribution of heart disease?
THE CDC has a link on their website that may be helpful: http://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/maps_statistics.htm
Annotated Bibliography
Meier, P., and Timmis, A. A. (2013). Almanac 2012: Interventional Cardiology. Romanian Journal of Cardiology, 23(2), 136-147.
This article is a general almanac for innovations and studies in interventional cardiology throughout 2012. This almanac clearly outlines new procedures, clinical trials, their results and analytical conclusions. For instance, the first heading in the article, “Percutaneous Coronary Intervention [(PCI)] Versus Medical Treatment”, argues the PCI and medical treatment show “no significant differences” regarding mortality rates, non-fatal myocardial infarction, unplanned revascularization, and persistent angina. Dozens of other headings, like the example, assert factual evidence to prove right their study or advancement in technology for better, safer medicine practice. Quotes that I have derived from this article that I could use include “The field of interventional cardiology continues to progress quickly,” found on page 136 and, “The efficacy of percutaneous interventions with newer generation drug-eluting stents has advanced a lot over the last decade,” also found on page 136. Furthermore, the almanac abstract states, “This improvement in stent performance has broadened the level of indication towards more complex interventions such as left main and multi- vessel PCI [(Percutaneous Coronary Intervention)].” This article is quite credible for several reasons: One, this article presents clear, quantitative data recorded from clinical studies that support treatments and procedures. Two, the association approving this article, The Romanian Journal of Cardiology, is a highly regarded source of credible reports as all members hold a Doctor of Medicine Degree and all articles are peer reviews. Finally, the primary author, Dr. Pascal Meier, is, himself, an interventional cardiologist and Editor-in-Chief of Open Heart, an esteemed cardiology journal, as well as associate editor of other cardiology journals, Director of the Translational Research Programme of the London Centre for Nanotechnology, and a assistant professor adjunct in Cardiovascular Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine—further contributing to the reliability of this source. I plan to do my research project with something in interventional cardiology. As this article provides information in a general, persuasive, and retrospective view, I can use this source to get information not only on cardiovascular procedures but also their supporting data. Whether my project is on the top causes of myocardial infarctions, the dangers of STEMIs, or looking at heart disease through a human geographical lens, this article can provide the needed information to develop my project.
Guo, Danhuai, et al. "Geographical Analysis Of The Distribution And Spread Of Human Rabies In China From 2005 To 2011." Plos ONE 8.8 (2013): 1-10. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.
article is revealing the results of a six year long study on the spatial distribution of rabies in China. A variety of models are used to display their findings—as well as data tables. The group of researchers concludes the distribution of rabies has spatially changed from the time studied, 2005-2011. The researchers used, “Gaussian kernel density analysis, average nearest neighbor distance, Spatial Temporal Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise and developed a model of rabies spatiotemporal spread.” With this modeling, the researchers found that, “Human rabies cases increased from 2005 to 2007 and decreased during 2008 to 2011 companying change of the spatial distribution.” The article itself is found on Galileo, an online scholarly article database, and the study is conducted by human geographers. The publisher of the article, Plos ONE, is an internationally recognized organization that uses expert peer-review methods for its articles—further contributing to the article’s overall reliability. My research question deals largely in part to this research article. The researchers here used human geography to “map” the spatial distribution of human rabies in PR China. In the same way, in my project, I will be using human geography to show the distribution of heart disease in the US. Like any good geographer, the researchers did not stop at mapping the disease, but they also investigated as to why rabies had spread the way it did. Likewise, I will not only be mapping out heart disease in the US, but also will be giving reasons as to why heart disease is distributed the way it is.