1. Understanding the
Cardiovascular System (CVS)
Patty Melody, M.A.
Los Angeles Valley College
Physical Education Department

2. Agenda
1. Define the Cardiovascular System (CVS)
2. Why do we need to know about the CVS?
3. Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease
(CVD)
4. Different types of CVD
5. Reversing Atherosclerosis
6. Benefits of Cardiovascular Endurance
Conditioning

3. The Cardiorespiratory
System
 Cardio:
 heart and blood vessels
 transports oxygen, nutrients,
and wastes among vital
organs and tissues
 Respiratory:
 lungs, air passages, and
breathing muscles
 supplies oxygen and
removes carbon dioxide

4. Agenda
1. Define the Cardiovascular System (CVS)
2. Why do we need to know about the CVS?
3. Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease
(CVD)
4. Different types of CVD
5. Reversing Atherosclerosis
6. Benefits of Cardiovascular Endurance
Conditioning

5. Top 10 Killers in U.S. 1997
 1. Heart Disease 31.4%
 2. Cancer 23.2%
 3. Stroke 6.9%
 4. COPD 4.7%
 5. Accidents 4.1%
 6. Pneumonia/Influenza 3.7%
 7. Diabetes 2.7%
 8. Suicide 1.3%
 9. Kidney Disease 1.1%
 10. Chronic Liver Disease and Cirrhosis 1.1%

6. CVD in Perspective
 CVD – 953,110 deaths/year
 Cancer – 540,000 deaths/year
 Accidents – 96,000 deaths/year
 HIV/AIDS – 17,000 deaths/year
 CVD cause of 41.2% of all deaths/year
 1 out of every 2.4 deaths, 2,600 deaths/day, 1
death every 33 seconds
 CVD claims more lives each year than the
next seven leading causes of death combined

7. Cardiovascular Disease
Statistics – Part 1
 Between 1987-1997 CVD death rates declined 19.1%
 In 1997, 953,110 people in the U.S. died from heart
disease
 Forty two percent of all deaths are related to CVD
 One-sixth of CVD deaths are people younger than 65
years
 More than 60 million (1 out of every 4) Americans have
some form of CVD: hypertension (50 million), coronary
heart disease (12.2 million), congestive heart failure (4.6
million), or stroke (4.4 million) (American Heart Association,
1997)

8. Cardiovascular Disease
Statistics – Part 2
 Coronary heart disease (CHD) accounts for more deaths
than any other disease annually (489,000+ deaths)
 CHD deaths greater among Blacks than Whites (Hispanics
have a lower prevalence than Whites) (Public Health
Service 1988)
 CHD is caused by lack of blood supply to the heart muscle
(myocardium) resulting in myocardial ischemia
 CHD begins with a degenerative, progressive plaque build-
up within the lining of the arteries known as atherosclerosis
(Endothelial Damage Theory)

9. Types of CVD*
 Hypertension
 Coronary heart disease
 Stroke
 Rheumatic heart disease
 Congenital heart disease
 Congestive heart failure
* CVD is the acronym for Cardiovascular Disease.

10. Myocardial Infarction
 Necrosis of a part of cardiac muscle
caused by obstruction in a coronary
artery through either atherosclerosis or a
thrombus or a spasm. The onset of an
MI is characterized by a crushing,
viselike chest pain that may radiate to
the left arm, neck, or epigastrium and
sometimes stimulates the sensation of
acute indigestion or a gallbladder attack.

11. Atherosclerosis
 Principle cause of coronary artery disease.
Defined as the thickening, narrowing and
hardening of the blood vessels in the body.
The etiology of this chronic disease stems
from long-term injury and plaque build-up
within the inner lining (endothelial lining) of the
arteries. This narrowing of the diameter of the
vessels (lumen) leads to various forms of
occlusion which can result in an MI
(myocardial infarction). Coronary arteries are
only as wide as a pencil lead.

12. Common Blood Vessel Disorders
 Thrombus – clot
 Embolus – moving clot
 Hemorrhage – sudden burst of blood
vessel
 Aneurysm – blood vessel balloons,
weakens and can rupture

13. Heart Attack Signals
 Pale, clammy, SOB
 Faint, anxious, feeling
that death is imminent
 Tachycardia, thready
pulse, low BP
 Chest pain > 2 min.
 Radiating pain,
pressure, discomfort in
arm, jaw and back
 EKG might detect
elevation of ST segment
and Q wave
 ALOC – altered level of
consciousness measured
using Glasgow Coma
Scale
 Nausea/Vomiting
 Gastrointestinal Distress
 Activate E.M.S. as soon as
possible. Forty percent of
people die within the first
hour of a heart attack.

14. Heart Attack Trivia
 70% of heart attacks take place at home
 30% of heart attacks outside of home
 Most heart attacks occur Monday mornings
 Men and post-menopausal women are at
highest risk
 Men deny they are having a heart attack
 Women are treated for gastric or gynecology
problems – treatment delayed because
women present different s/s for heart attacks –
Women’s Health Initiative 1991

15. ACSM GUIDELINES 2005
Coronary Artery Disease Risk Factors
Positive Risk Factors
 Family history
 Cigarette smoking
 Hypertension
 Dyslipidemia
 Impaired fasting glucose
 Obesity
 Sedentary lifestyle
Negative Risk Factor
 High serum HDL cholesterol > 60mg/dL
(1.6mmol/L)

16. Recommendations of the U.S.
Surgeon General
 Moderate activity:
 on most, preferably all, days of the week
 a goal of 150 kcals/day (1000
kcals/week)
 Examples of one day’s moderate activity:
 30 minutes of brisk walking or 15
minutes of running
 30 minutes of raking leaves or 15
minutes of shoveling snow
 two 10-minute bicycle rides or two brisk
15- minute walks

17. Benefits of Cardiorespiratory
Endurance Exercise
 Improved cardiorespiratory
functioning:
 Reduces risk of CVD
 Glycogen-sparing effect
 Increases ventilatory capacity
 Increases cardiac output
 Reduces risk of dying prematurely
 Reduces risk of developing
osteoporosis
 Maintenance of body weight
 Reduces risk of developing diabetes

18. More Benefits of Cardiorespiratory
Endurance Exercise
 Reduced risk of
chronic
disease:
 cardiovascular
disease
 cancer
 diabetes
 osteoporosis
Image source: http://www.nof.org/osteoporosis/index.htm

19. More Benefits of Cardiorespiratory
Endurance Exercise
 Better control of
body fat
 Improved immune
function
 Improved
psychological and
emotional well-
being

20. Five Health-Related Components
of Fitness
 Cardiorespiratory Endurance
 The ability to perform prolonged, large muscle, dynamic exercise at moderate to
high intensity levels.
 Muscular Strength
 The amount of force a muscle can produce with a single maximum effort.
 Muscular Endurance
 The ability of a muscle or group of muscles to remain contracted or to contract
repeatedly for a long period of time.
 Flexibility
 The range of motion in a joint or group of joints; flexibility is related to muscle
length.
 Body Composition
 The relative proportion of fat-free mass (muscle, bone, and water) and fat in the
body

21. Cardiovascular Endurance
 The ability of the body to
perform prolonged, large-
muscle, dynamic exercise
at moderate-to-high levels
of intensity
 Key health-related
component of fitness