Risk & CVD Exam Questions

Q1. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of death in developed countries.

A high body mass index (BMI) and diabetes are two risk factors for CVD.

Which of the following is another risk factor for CVD?

(1)
A high blood pressure
B low blood cholesterol
C low salt intake
D using statins
(Total for question = 1 mark)

Q2. Diet is one factor that affects the development of CVD.

Explain how the diet of a person could affect the development of CVD.
(4)
The diet of a person could affect the development of CVD because it can cause things like high blood
pressure and it could even weaken your heart and cardiac muscle. Foods with lots of sugar can add lots
of fat and fat can increase the blood pressure a lot. Especially around the cardiac muscle, the fat will
restrain it and will not be able to pump blood properly. When you eat food that can help your muscles, this
will decrease the risk of CVD as the cardiac muscle can pump the blood properly. There are also factors
such as the cholesterol in food which some can cause plaque in the arteries and increase blood pressure.
(Total for question = 4 marks)

Q2. There is evidence for a causal relationship between blood cholesterol levels and cardiovascular
disease (CVD).

(a) Explain the meaning of the term causal relationship.

(1)
Casual relationship means something that causes another. Its almost like saying that high cholesterol in
your blood can cause CVD.
 (b) Obesity and high blood pressure are also factors that increase the risk of CVD.

The graph below shows the percentage of people with CVD who have high blood pressure or have high
blood cholesterol or are obese for the period 1960 to 1990.

(i) Using the information in the graph, describe the overall changes that have occurred in these risk
factors during this period.
(3)
From 1960 to around 1980 the percentage of people with CVD and obesity were lower than the other
factors but it gradually increases. After 1980 we can see a difference in the gradient and obesity actually
becomes a higher risk of having CVD than the other factors. This could suggest that as time is going on ,
more and more people are getting obese and this could be caused by the living style that people have
such as the fast food restaurants that are being opened up every year.

With high blood pressure we are able to see that from 1960 to 1980 the risk is almost level with a slight
increase but as soon as 1980 passes by, the risk drops dramatically and even becomes less of a risk than
obesity. This may be because of the innovative medicines that people have more access to and the
higher understandings that doctors may have now than they may have had then about the blood
pressure.

With high blood cholesterol it is similar to the high blood pressure where it drops a lot after 1980 but at the
start it has a small drop then levels out instead. It may be like this similarly to the high blood pressure
where the doctors have more understanding on how to reduce the risk.

(ii) Suggest two reasons for the overall change in high blood cholesterol as a risk factor.
(2)
1 Dietary choices – Food can have a big impact on the cholesterol levels.

2 Physical activity and lifestyle – A small amount of exercise can lead to a high blood cholesterol as
regular exercise can increase this amount.

(ii) State two factors, other than obesity, high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol, that increase the
risk of CVD. (1)

1 Smoking

2 Diabetes
(Total for question = 7 marks)