Essential Health Knowledge: Disease Prevention and Common Conditions

Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease

Preventing cardiovascular disease involves adopting a healthy lifestyle. Key recommendations include:

• Regular Exercise: Engage in consistent physical activity.
• Calorie Management: Avoid excessive calorie intake.
• Dietary Moderation: Limit salt, sugar, red meat, egg yolks, and alcohol.
• Increased Consumption: Boost intake of cereals, pulses, oily fish, salads, and fruits.
• Fat Choices: Moderate animal fat intake and prioritize healthier vegetable oils.
• Dairy Alternatives: Choose soy or skim milk.
• Fiber-Rich Foods: Eat foods high in fiber.
• Meal Preparation: Limit reliance on pre-cooked meals.
• Rest and Organization: Ensure adequate rest and organize time and activities effectively.

Understanding Mental Health Conditions

Mental health problems encompass changes in thinking, mood, or behavior. When severe, these changes are classified as mental illness. They include a wide range of disorders:

Specific Mental Health Disorders

• Schizophrenia

  Schizophrenia is a disease in which the patient experiences significantly distorted reasoning and perceptions.

• Anxiety Disorders

  Anxiety disorders are a group characterized by common or intense fear.

• Depression

  Depression is the most common mental illness. Its symptoms include excessive sadness and disinterest in leisure activities.

• Eating Disorders

  Eating disorders often begin in adolescence or young adulthood.

  • Anorexia Nervosa

    In anorexia nervosa, the person is excessively thin but perceives themselves as too fat, even when eating normally. Therefore, they refuse to eat or consume fewer calories than required. Anorexic women often experience amenorrhea (absence of menstruation).

  • Bulimia Nervosa

    Individuals with bulimia nervosa are typically of normal weight or slightly overweight. Episodes of binge eating are followed by exaggerated feelings of guilt, leading to attempts to purge what was eaten through vomiting, laxatives, excessive exercise, and other compensatory behaviors.

• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

  Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children is diagnosed by problems controlling energy and attention. Children with ADHD often forget what they need to do.

• Personality Disorders

  Personality disorders are characterized by rigid and inappropriate patterns of behavior.

• Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease

  Dementia is the progressive loss of mental abilities, primarily memory. It is more common in the elderly, with Alzheimer's disease being the most prevalent form.

Addictive Behaviors and Substance Abuse

Most definitions of addiction focus on substance abuse, also known as drug abuse. Withdrawal symptoms occur when drug use ceases and are specific to each substance.

Cardiac Catheterization Procedure

A catheter is a thin, flexible tube. Cardiac catheterization involves carefully inserting a catheter through an artery, usually in the groin, and guiding it to the heart with the aid of a real-time X-ray machine. Once the catheter reaches the heart, images are taken to provide information on the state of the heart and blood vessels. These pictures are called angiograms.