Coronary artery disease (CAD) currently remains one of the leading heart conditions in the US. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2021), nearly 360,000 people died of CAD in 2019. Moreover, approximately 7% of the nation’s population aged 20 and older live with CAD (CDC, 2021). Fundamentally, CAD, or atherosclerosis, is a heart condition predetermined by plaque occurring in one’s artery, narrowing the artery and disrupting the normal patterns of blood flow across the vessels (Johnson, 2018). Hence, it is imperative to dwell on the preventive measures that may halt the rapid process of CAD prevalence among the US population.
There exist some major types of primary CAD prevention in both healthy populations and CAD risk groups. Thus, the preventive measures applicable to the general population include a healthy diet, exercise, tobacco use prevention, and hypertension management (Regmi & Siccardi, 2021). As far as patients with type 2 diabetes are concerned, the primary prevention procedure concerns moderate-intensity statin use. Such aspects as age, race, gender and family history are non-modifiable risks of CAD. For this reason, it is critical to promote both a healthy lifestyle and such preventive measures as taking aspirin for people aged 40 and older, given they have no risk of bleeding (Regmi & Siccardi, 2021).
The management and further prevention of CAD are also closely related to the active community health education initiatives that focus on the awareness of risks, screening recommendations, and treatment patterns. Hence, considering the relevance of CAD in the modern US context, it is of crucial importance to develop an efficient educational model with the help of online platforms, community services, and community health nurses.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC]. (2021). Heart disease facts. Web.
Johnson, R. A. (2018). Cardiorespiratory complexities. In Pathophysiology clinical applications for client health (Grand Canyon University, E-book). Web.
Regmi, M., & Siccardi, M. A. (2021). Coronary artery disease prevention. In StatPearls [StatPearls Publishing, E-book). Web.