Heart disease in older people Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Heart disease in older people - Term Paper Example Heart diseases mostly affect the aged since they have a very weak system. According to Elliot, Aitken & Chaboyer (2006) about 43% of deaths among the aged population in Australia is usually caused by heart diseases. This paper will focus on smoking and obesity as factors causing heart diseases. The paper will focus on diabetes pressure as the heart disease. According to the Diabetes Atlas (2007), diabetes is chronic condition which is result of an individual having too much sugar in their blood system. Diabetes is also associated with a low production of insulin in the blood system. An insight on obesity as a causing factor indicates it as a major cause. Less generation of insulin in the body can be caused by lack of physical exercises. An obese person has fewer activities which lowers the activity levels of the metabolic system (Williams, 2002). An inactive metabolic system generates very low levels of insulin in the body. Reduced insulin levels make it difficult for one to control their blood sugar levels. In the older population, obesity makes it difficult for them to recover from diabetes. As a factor causing heart diseases high cholesterol levels are the main factors. Obesity in older people is accompanied by greater levels of cholesterol. High cholesterol causes hardening of arteries. This in turn leads to blood clots in the arteries and sudden heart attacks. In Australia the causes of heart attacks and obesity caused by high cholesterol is at 23% annually (Mitchell & Zwaan, 2007)). From the percentage 19% of the diagnosed individuals are above the age of 25. In Australia, smoking is the leading cause of heart diseases in older people. From the heart diseases, diabetes is one of the major diseases diagnosed. Apart from nicotine cigarettes contain other chemicals which have harmful effects to the heart. The chemicals heart the rhythm of the heart, cholesterol levels in the heart and the blood pressure. In older people the effects