The Cardiovascular System Essay.

1.Discuss the physiology (structure and function) of the body system including details about the major organ systems. 2.Construct relevant health history questions (subjective data) pertaining to the body system. 3.Provide an overview of the objective data and expected normal physical examination findings for this body system.The Cardiovascular System Essay. 4.Explain special physical assessment examination techniques or procedures specific to assessing this body system. 5.Analyze and discuss how you might adapt your physical assessment skills or interviewing techniques to accommodate each of the following specific populations: Infant/pediatric Pregnancy Geriatric 6.Identify one major disease or disease process that may significantly impact this body system. 7.Synthesis and discuss the expected abnormal physical examination findings that may be associated with this disease or disease process. 8.Summarize the key points.The Cardiovascular System Essay.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

The Cardiovascular System

According to Sozen et al. (2019), the cardiovascular system’s main function is to supply blood throughout the body. The system can control the amount and velocity of blood carried through blood vessels by responding to a variety of stimuli. The cardiovascular system is made up of of the heart, veins, arteries, and capillaries. These constituents work in tandem to ensure that all body parts have an adequate blood supply. This system is regulated using stimuli such as hormones, changing blood volume, osmolarity, medications, electrolytes, kidneys, and adrenal glands, among others. The Cardiovascular System Essay.The sympathetic together with the parasympathetic nervous systems are also greatly involved in the regulation of this body system. By supplying blood to body parts, this system facilitates the transport of oxygen, nutrients, and hormones to cells and the removal of waste resulting from metabolism such as nitrogenous waste and Carbon (IV) Oxide. Secondly, it allows for the protection of the body by antibodies and leucocytes. The body system also complements for blood proteins responsible for the protection of the body against foreign toxins and microbes. The cardiovascular system also has, as one of its components, clotting mechanisms that protect the body from the loss of blood following an injury. Fluid PH, body temperature, and cell water content are also regulated through this system (Steadman & Wray 2017).The Cardiovascular System Essay.

The term “cardiac cycle” is usede in reference to actitities that occur during a complete beat of the heart. Systole is the pumping phase of the cycle that takes place once the muscles of the heart contract. Diastole, on the other hand, is when the heart muscles relax and marks the beginning of the cycle. During diastole, every chamber is relaxed and is therefore filled with blood. The valves located between the atria and ventricles, or atrioventricular valves open to allow this.The Cardiovascular System Essay. After this, follows systole of the atria leading to the pumping of blood into the ventricles. Once blood is in the ventricles, they go into systole where they contract and pump blood through the pulmonary trunk and aorta. As the ventricles are in systole, the atria are in a relaxed state and therefore receiving blood. The valves close immediately following the ventricles’ systole, thus stopping blood from flowing back into the atria. This cycle ends with the closure of the semilunar valves, thus stopping blood from flowing back into the left and right ventricles from the pulmonary trunk and the aorta (Sozen et al., (2019).The Cardiovascular System Essay.

While assessing the cardiovascular system, a patient health history will play an important role. This information can be obtained through subjective data, which is information from the patient. This will include perceptions, feelings, and concerns that can be obtained through an interview. This interview may begin with questions about medication. If the patient has been on medication, it is important to know if they are over-the-counter, prescribed, or illegal. The second set of questions should relate to associations.The Cardiovascular System Essay. This includes whether there is an associated cough, chest pains, fevers, or shivering fits. Gastrointestinal symptoms are also relevant. This is because chronic heart failure can sometimes cause discomfort in the abdomen resulting from the liver’s enlargement. Urinary symptoms are also important. This is because oliguria is an important symptom when it comes to heart failure.Headaches, dizziness, and mental changes are relatively common symptoms of high blood pressure, cardiac failure, and arterial degeneration(Sozen et al., 2019).The Cardiovascular System Essay.

Past medical history and family history allow for the determination of possible congenital conditions. For this reason, inquiries should be made into any heart problems, raised blood pressure, dizziness, collapses, and fainting fits. It is also crucial to note previous lipid levels. Finally, questions about family history need to be touched on whether a family member has had coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, stroke congenital heart disease, hyperlipidemia, and early deaths.The Cardiovascular System Essay.

The normal heart rate for an adult who is at rest will typically range bittern 60 and 100 beats a minute. The ideal blood pressure for an adult is understood to range from 90/60mmHg to 120/80mmHg. X-rays can be used to determine if a patient complaining of chest pains or one that has been in an accident has heart problems, pneumonia, collapsed lungs, or cancer(Sozen et al., 2019).The Cardiovascular System Essay.

As stated above, the evaluation of the above body system typically includes patient and family medical histories, an examination of the heart and the venous and peripheral arterial circulations, and relevant laboratory studies such as lipid levels which require special physical techniques and procedures. Furthermore, apart from chest x-rays and electrocardiograms, continued improvement in the sophistication of non-invasive techniques such as nuclear cardiology and echocardiography and the advancement of angiography and cardiac catheterization continue to enhance patient clinical work-up. A clinician’s specialized assessments will allow for the identification of anatomic, etiologic, and physiologic components of any given disorder in the system (Steadman & Wray 2017).The Cardiovascular System Essay.

Because a cardiovascular assessment requires both subjective data and specialized tests, it will, in some cases, need to be modified to fit a specific client. For instance, when the client is an infant, relevant medical histories will need to be obtained from the parent or guardian. Furthermore, consent for some potentially harmful examinations such as x-rays will need to be obtained from the parents. When dealing with pregnant women, the assessment needs to focus on resting heart rate, pulse and venous pressure, and peripheral edema. When examining geriatric patients, it is important to factor in the fact that there exists a correlation between abnormal electrocardiography results and the symptoms that are referable to this system and that there tend to be more e.c.g.s to become abnormal with advances in age (Paneniet al., 2017).The Cardiovascular System Essay.

Sozen et al. (2019) state that about nine out of every thousand babies born in the United States have a congenital heart defect. This condition is a developmental problem that occurs during pregnancy. The heart develops during conception and becomes fully formed within the eighth week of pregnancy. The congenital heart defect will occur during the first eight weeks of development. As with every major organ in the body, there is a series of steps that need to occur for the heart to form correctly. In many cases, a congenital heart defect results when one of the steps mentioned above fails to occur at the right time. An example of this is when a hole is left where one blood vessel is left where two vessels should be present or when a hole develops instead of a dividing wall (Cubells et al., 2018).The Cardiovascular System Essay.

Experts have classified congenital heart defects into different categories to understand the problems faced by infants with the above condition. The first category involves problems causing the excess passage of blood into the lungs. Such defects will allow blood that is rich in oxygen and should be passing to the body to enter the lungs instead. The result is an increase in stress and pressure in the lungs. The second set of problems cause the lungs to receive less blood than is required. These problems result when deoxygenated blood to travel directly to the body from the heart. The body, therefore, receives insufficient oxygen resulting in blue coloring or cyanosis. Some problems cause the body to receive too little blood. This is often a function of undeveloped heart chambers, causing blockages in the heart(Cubells et al., 2018).The Cardiovascular System Essay.

Conclusion

The cardiovascular system is responsible for important functions such as oxygen and nutrient transport, transport of waste products, and regulation on body temperature and fluid PH. As this paper has shown, special technical and interviewing skills are necessary to analyze this system properly. It is crucial to have subjective data to accompany physical examination and laboratory results to have a complete picture of the state of a cardiovascular system.The Cardiovascular System Essay.