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Coronary heart disease

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Coronary heart disease Introduction This disease, also known as Ischemic heart disease is caused by the narrowing or blocking of a coronary artery by fatty tissue and fibrons which deprive the heart muscle of oxygen rich blood, the effect may be death if extreme or if the deprivation is only mild the effect will be angina pectoris. After repeated attacks the results are the progressive destruction of the myocardium. The result of which is the destruction of the left ventricle or ventricular fibrillation, which is an uncontrolled and uncoordinated twitching of the ventricle muscle that will cause certain cardiac death. A coronary bypass or a balloon angioplasty are instigated to combat against this potential threat, these are seen as the last resort if medication and diet are unable to control the progressive coronary heart disease and if the myocardial damage is not too extensive. Ischemic heart disease, atherosclerotic plaque, cardiac infarction The narrowing of the arteries by decomposition of fatty material on the wall is called arteriosclerosis, the direct result of this being a lowered blood flow. ...read more.


Muscles, for example, especially if they are not being used, remain unharmed even when they are deprived of their blood supply for many minutes, whilst an interrupted blood supply to the brain can cause malfunctions within seconds causing loss of consciousness and if the flow of blood is not restored within a few minutes then irreversible damage can be the result. The heart itself, much like the brain, is dependent on a constant supply of blood. If the heart loses its blood supply, this is known as ischaemic, its ability to pump blood around the body is seriously reduced. This ischaemic heart disease is the cause for most heart attacks. The heart cells duly die causing a heart attack or a cardiac infarction. If this clot is in the brain then the person has a stroke. The plaques that contain more fibrous tissue do not rupture as easily but continue to grow which will cause the surrounding tissue to become starved. When this occurs in the heart we have a condition called ischaemia. Any pain in the heart that is associated with this condition is called angina. ...read more.


Tiny electrical impulses are produced from the pads and this is displayed on the ECG, electrocardiogram. The image shows how the information is displayed. By analysis of the peaks and troughs from the ECG it can be determined which areas of the heart are damaged and the extent of the damage. Also new treatment involves lasers, which drill small holes into the heart wall and form new vessels. The laser holes are about a millimetre in diameter and the hole made creates a channel in the hearts wall allowing blood rich of oxygen, from the lungs, to reach the heart muscle. As described earlier it is essential to get oxygen rich blood to the heart muscles, as the deprivation of oxygen to the heart muscles is the cause of a heart attack. To stop bleeding when the laser is finished and the surface of the heart reaches the air the blood clots and within 2 days scar tissue will have formed. Sealing the ends of the holes prevents the heart from leaking. Also to avoid a hole through the whole heart and causing damage the beam is used when the ventricle is full with blood; the blood will absorb the laser causing no damage. ...read more.

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Response to the question

The candidates introductory paragraph has room for improvement, when writing an introduction you do need to introduce your topic which the candidate has done but they have gone into far too much detail. You want your introduction to be short ...

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Response to the question

The candidates introductory paragraph has room for improvement, when writing an introduction you do need to introduce your topic which the candidate has done but they have gone into far too much detail. You want your introduction to be short and to the point. You should briefly describe your topic and you should then go on to state exactly what you plan to discuss so that the purpose of your essay is clear. You can develop your introduction further by trying to engage the reader which you can do with by stating an interesting fact or including relevant background information. If the reader is interested in your work then they are more likely to read all of your essay rather than simply skim through it.

Level of analysis

The candidate has gone into a great deal of depth when describing causes and treatment for coronary heart disease and it is apparent from the information that they have discussed that they've taken the time to research this topic. It is important to research a science based essay so that you can make sure that you get the facts right. In addition to this, you demonstrate interest in your subject which is always a good thing and the extra information that the research allows you to include in your work can make your essay more interesting to read with is another plus. Furthermore the candidate has sensibly included a bibliography listing the resources they have used which is important as it shows the steps you have taken to prepare for your work and proves that your work is not plagiarised. However there are some errors with the way that the candidate has referenced the resources that they have used. For example, if you take information from a webpage, you need to include the link to that specific page, which the candidate has not done and if you use magazine articles then you should state the date and issue number of the magazine along with the page that the article is printed one. This allows others to look up the resources you have used. On another note the candidate occasionally includes quotes that have found from their research, while this can be a good starting point for discussion, the way in which the candidate has added the quotes throughout their work actually detracts from the information within the essay. Remember your teacher/examiner is far more interested in what you have to say, by all means include references to the work or ideas of other people but make sure this fits with what you are discussing and that you mention why it is relevant to your work. On a final note, the candidate has not written a conclusion which is a mistake, you should alway conclude your work as this gives you a chance to draw the essay to a close and leave the reader with a good impression. A good conclusion should summarise key points from within your essay with reference to why this are important and you should include a personal response to your topic. For a science based essay like this one, this could be what you have learnt from writing your essay.

Quality of writing

This is a well written piece of work, the candidate uses a good range of vocabulary and they have accurately used correct medical terminology which demonstrates a good understanding of the topic. Furthermore, there are no errors with spelling, punctuation or grammar.


Reviewed by pictureperfect 07/08/2012

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