Question

What treatments should a nurse use for the patient who has been diagnosed with Atheriosclerosis? (independent and collaborative treatments)

Answer 1

Atherosclerosis is the hardening/narrowing of the arteries by the buildup of plaque on the walls of the arteries. Atherosclerosis takes place when the endothelium of the arteries gets damaged. The damage is caused by high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high triglyceride, smoking. Due to the damage to the arterial wall, blood cells and other substances clump at the site of the injury and build up in the endothelium of the artery. The blood cells and cholesterol form plaque in the arterial wall. This plaque can grow in size and disrupt the flow of blood in the body. The plaque can disrupt and because of that platelets will form a clot inside the artery at the site of rupture. This can cause cardiovascular disease like a myocardial infarction or an ischemic attack (stroke).

Atherosclerosis is caused by smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, high blood sugar due to diabetes or insulin resistance.

Ways to treat atherosclerosis are: changing diet habits, exercise, medication for high cholesterol, stop smoking, angiography and stunting (push plaque out of the way), or bypass surgery may be necessary.

Atherosclerosis patient nursing management:

Nurse can introduce and promote a heart healthy lifestyle changes like quitting smoking, physical activity, managing stress and maintaining a healthy weight.

Nurse proper continuous monitoring symptoms can reduce the risk factors of patient and it can leads to an effort to slow or stop the buildup of plaque.

Always focus to prevent patient free from atherosclerosis related diseases by lowering the risk of blood clot forming.