Hyperlipidemia Case Study

Introduction

This essay aims at analyzing different sections on the hyperlipidemia condition and hypertension. It reviews the life of Ms. Ferguson who undergoes many diseases including diabetes, OA, HTN which she can't bring under control and possible Peripheral Artery Disease. The essay helps in understanding her condition and the various ways she can live a better life through mitigation of some conditions and controlling the ones that cannot get eradicated entirely.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

1. Hyperlipidemia is a health condition whose main symptom is high and abnormal levels of accumulated lipids and fats in the blood. It comes about due to continued effects of diabetes and genetic causes. Ms. Ferguson lab results indicate the possibility of Hyperlipidemia disorder. The patient has high levels total cholesterol measuring 259mg/dl, which exceeds the normal limits of total cholesterol of 239mg/dl. Such critical levels of total cholesterol in Ms. Ferguson's blood is the primary indicator that she has hyperlipidemia and at dangerous levels. Besides, the LDL cholesterol content in Ms. Ferguson's bloodstream measures 163, which is high according to the LDL cholesterol scale that reads the safe levels as below 159mg/dl. Also, she has deficient levels of HDL cholesterol, amounting 37mg/dl. HDL cholesterol gets considered as the "good" cholesterol that helps in the removal of the bad cholesterols from the bloodstream. Low levels of the HDL cholesterol imply that there is little help given to cleanse the blood from the bad cholesterols. Therefore, the levels of the three cholesterols in the bloodstream of Ms. Ferguson show that she is at high risk of critical levels of cholesterol, and hence she is at a crucial level of Hyperlipidemia (Navar-Boggan, Peterson, D'Agostino, Neely, Sniderman & Pencina, 2015).

2. Cardiovascular disease is a critical sickness that develops in the heart and blood vessels due to the accumulation of plaque on blood vessels walls, especially arteries. Accumulation of excessive fats on the walls of arteries makes the passages very thin, sometimes blocking blood passage. When blood finds it hard to pass through the vessels to and from the heart, it eventually stresses the heart, leading to a heart attack or stroke, which is called Hyperlipidemia. Excess cholesterol in Ms. Ferguson can eventually lead to severe heart attacks. The modifiable risk factors are diabetes and obesity, hyperlipidemia. These diseases are treatable through exercise, diet and therapy and medical attention. Controlling the disease can help reduce the chances of having CV disease. The non-modifiable factors include age, gender, and genetic history. Women are at a greater risk for CV disease than men, and as she approaches old age, now at years of 56 age, she is more likely to develop heart attacks. Her father got diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at 71 years, while her mother had critical heart disease at 66 years. This genetic history contributes to her possibility of developing cardiovascular disease (Navar-Boggan et al., 2015).

3. Ms. Ferguson needs to adjust to a healthy diet that includes low-fat foods, 70% daily carbohydrates, low protein intake, many vegetables, and fruits, avoiding alcohol and low cholesterol intake. Exercise is also another way towards burning of body fats, reducing cholesterol levels in the process. She can take some walks and do some jogging on a daily basis (Willard-Grace, Chen, Hessler, DeVore, Prado, Bodenheimer & Thom, 2015).

4. The patient can use some medications to control cholesterol levels. For instance, she can opt for statin therapy which acts to reduce elevated LDL levels and increase HDL levels at the same time. It also lowers triglyceride levels which can be harmful at high percentages. Omega-3 fatty acids are good in the reduction of chances of heart attacks that develop due to high cholesterol levels. Zetia is another form of medication that prevents the absorption of cholesterol into the bloodstream helping control the amount of cholesterol in the blood, hence better chances of recovering from hyperlipidemia. Nicotinic acids is another supplement that blocks the digestion of VLDL and LDL while making a good environment for the increase of HDL levels, the good lipid. Fibrates apply to some patients. They work by fastening the breakdown of VLDL which lowering TG levels in the blood. However, these medications work well if a client follows instructions as prescribed by the healthcare specialists (Willard-Grace, 2015).

5. 1 HTN is the first stage of hypertension. It includes the initial symptoms that imply that someone might have hypertension. The main sign in this stage is abnormal levels of blood pressure. Pressure increases due to continuous exposure to pressure, lack of enough sleep, and bad habits of stress management. Pressure steadily increases without the person noticing, which eventually shows up through physical ways like general body weakness and tiredness (Mitchell, 2014).

6. Anti-HTN therapy primarily aims at bringing doe blood pressure to normal levels. Lack of control of blood pressure results in many diseases and early deaths. This kind of therapy ensures that a person does not result in multi-morbidity situations due to continuous accumulations of acute levels of blood pressure (Willard-Grace, 2015).

7. Rx'd ACE inhibitors are used in the management of some diseases like high blood pressure, stroke periods, heart attacks and diabetes. The inhibitor is useful for reducing the effects of diseases that arise from high blood pressure. The inhibitor purposes to minimize the impact of angiotensin-converting enzyme which converts angiotensin I to angiotensin II which activates the muscles in contact with blood vessels to go into more contractions, making the blood vessels narrower (Mitchell, 2014).

8. Use of ACE inhibitors can have side effects to the patients that take them. The patient might experience episodes of dizziness, diarrhea, body weakness, dry cough, body rash, low blood pressure, sleepiness and frequent headaches. Moreover, a patient under ACE inhibitors can experience loss of taste of food staffs and high levels of blood potassium, hyperkalemia (Ricci, Castelnuovo, Savarese, Filardi, & Caterina, 2016).

9. HTN clients can apply other alternative methods in maintaining good levels of blood pressure. These include the taking of dark chocolate enriched with polyphenol and taking slow and long breathes when under stress. Moreover, the clients can use transcendental meditation to help them calm down. They can also opt for Complementary Alternative Therapies like massage and chiropractic manipulation to ease the body and psychological tension, lowering blood pressure (Ricci et al., 2016)

Conclusion

Many non-virus, non-fungi and non-bacterial diseases that have complicated methods of coping and treatment come about due to poor living habits, lack of handling stress, unhealthy feeding habits and lack of exercise. These factors contribute to the imbalance in blood constituents and "dirty" blood which depreciates the general health of the body accompanied by diseases like hypertension and hyperlipidemia.

References

Mitchell, G. F. (2014). Arterial stiffness and hypertension. Hypertension, 64(1), 13-18.

Navar-Boggan, A. M., Peterson, E. D., D'Agostino, R. B., Neely, B., Sniderman, A. D., & Pencina, M. J. (2015). Hyperlipidemia in Early Adulthood Increases Long-Term Risk of Coronary Heart DiseaseCLINICAL PERSPECTIVE. Circulation, 131(5), 451-458.

Ricci, F., Di Castelnuovo, A., Savarese, G., Filardi, P. P., & De Caterina, R. (2016). ACE-inhibitors versus angiotensin receptor blockers for prevention of events in cardiovascular patients without heart failure-A network meta-analysis. International journal of cardiology, 217, 128-134.

Willard-Grace, R., Chen, E. H., Hessler, D., DeVore, D., Prado, C., Bodenheimer, T., & Thom, D. H. (2015). Health coaching by medical assistants to improve control of diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia in low-income patients: a randomized controlled trial. The Annals of Family Medicine, 13(2), 130-138.