Ashlyn Christensen

Biology 1615- College Biology Lab

October 15, 2014

Article Summary
Introduction
For my article, I chose Prevalence of Coronary Heart Disease Risk factors and
Screening for High Cholesterol Levels among Young Adults, United States, 1990-2006.
(Kuklina, Yoon and Kennan) The article focuses on young adults who have Coronary Heart
Disease and young adults who are at risk of developing Coronary Heart Disease.
Coronary Heart Disease is a disease that affects the arteries leading to the heart. Arteries
are small blood vessels that supply the heart with blood and oxygen. Coronary Heart Disease
causes blood vessels to narrow which limits the blood and oxygen supply to the heart. Coronary
Heart Disease is more common among those who have high blood pressure and high cholesterol
levels. Age, sex, and lifestyle are also Coronary Heart Disease risk factors.
Materials
The health professionals hypothesized that hypothesized that young adults with Coronary
Heart Disease were unaware of the existing disease until after a random screening. If the
hypothesis was correct, the health professionals would be able to show doctors and young adults
the importance of screening all young adults for the disease; Rather than screening only
individuals who show symptoms of the disease.

Methods
The researchers observing the screening results used information from various sources
for the experiment. They collected records from the National Health and Nutrition Examination
Surveys to observe how many females and males between the ages of 20 and 45 years old had
been and had results come back positive for Coronary Heart Disease. Each patient whose record
was observed were placed into one of the following four categories: Patients who had Coronary
Heart Disease or Coronary Heart Disease equivalents, patients who had two or more common
risk factors, patients with one common risk factor, and patients who showed no risk factors or
signs of Coronary Heart Disease.
Results
In the end, scientists were able to find which patients resulted in having Coronary Heart
Disease and what category they were put in before the screening. According to the reports, 65%
of the patients who were screened were already diagnosed with Coronary Heart Disease, 26%
showed two or more risk factors, 12% had one risk factor, and about 7% had no risk factors or
signs of Coronary Heart Disease.
The results of this study go to show that many of young adults have or develop Coronary
Heart Disease. The risk factors of the disease are very common among young adults, but there
isnt a high amount who actually get screened for the disease. This makes it impossible for the
patients to be treated for the disease. Without treatments and proper care, the patients conditions
will worsen rapidly and the disease can be threatening to their lives.

Conclusion/Discussion
I think it is important for young adults to be screened for Coronary Heart Disease when
they are about 20 years old, especially if they present one of the risk factors. Heart diseases are
usually life threatening, but, if caught early on, most heart diseases can be treated. The heart is a
very important organ, so any type of heart disease is important to treat and take care of it
immediately.

References
Kuklina, Elena V., Paula W. Yoon and Nora L. Kennan. "Prevalence of Coronary Heart Disease Risk Factors
and Screening for High Cholestrol Levels Among Young Adults, United States, 1999-2006."
Annals of Family Medicine (2010): 7.