Furthermore, the circulatory system also disposes of waste material from cells. The heart receives oxygen-rich blood from the lungs and is distributed to the rest of the body; the heart also receives oxygen-poor blood from the rest of the body and brings it to the lungs to dispose of carbon dioxide and other wastes collected. Cardiovascular health is the well-being of the functions and organ of the circulatory system, making sure that there is no disease present and that the person maintains a healthy lifestyle. However, many people in the world suffer from cardiovascular diseases, such as heart disease and stroke. Heart disease, which comes in many kinds (heart attack, aneurysm, atherosclerosis, etc.), is mostly caused by an unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, family history of heart disease, and unhealthy habits like smoking and drinking.
Stroke occurs when atherosclerosis or an aneurysm are present in the brain, cutting off circulation to a certain area of the brain. Since atherosclerosis and aneurysms are also considered as heart diseases, stroke is also caused by many of the factors that cause heart disease. In order to promote cardiovascular health, one should maintain a healthy lifestyle by controlling blood pressure and cholesterol, eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, and managing stress. After finishing this unit, I still want to learn more about how HDL cholesterol clears up LDL cholesterol from clogging up the arteries. I also want to learn about the public's common misconceptions of atherosclerosis and other forms of heart disease, so I can inform people about them in order to promote cardiovascular health.
In this unit, I had trouble remembering the path of blood throughout the heart and the body; specifically, the fact that the pulmonary artery contains oxygen-poor blood confused me, since arteries typically carry oxygen-rich blood. However, I thought that I was more engaged in this unit since learning about all of the different types of cardiovascular diseases fascinated me; learning how to prevent them will also be beneficial in the future. Because of that, I thought that I retained the most information about the different cardiovascular diseases and was the most strong in that aspect. From the labs and activities from this unit, I learned that it is very hard to work on a collaborative project unless you assign each person in the group to a specific job/responsibility. For example, when we dissected the sheep heart for a lab, each person was assigned a responsibility, so the process went along quite smoothly.
My Unit 2 health goals were mainly to reduce my intake of carbohydrates and pearl milk tea and sleep at a more regular time every day. Personally, I think I have actually increased my intake of carbohydrates and pearl milk tea due to the heightened levels of stress from schoolwork and extracurricular activities. However, I do think that I have slept at a more regular time since I set my health goals for last unit. For the remainder of the semester, a few goals I have are to stay on top of my schoolwork without being overwhelmed by stress, increasing my intake of fiber/vegetables, and getting more exercising by going outside more.
No comments:
Post a Comment