250 words

The typical treatment for hypertension (high blood pressure) is to control it with medication. However, some people are able to regain normal blood pressure by addressing a common cause…lifestyle choices.

Attitude can be a choice and you may have heard the saying, “Laughter is the best medicine.” In the following video, Barry Ramo, M.D.,Reports on the benefit of laughter for the heart (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..

After watching the video, share your ideas about the following brainstorm question based on your opinion or your own experiences. Begin immediately without completing your reading, no later than Monday or Tuesday.

1. Can laughter be good medicine for the heart and the rest of the cardiovascular system?

For the second part of this discussion, apply what you have learned from the course materials for this module and your own research. We’ll complete this discussion together, as each of us weighs in on the following topics. (Begin contributing on Wednesday):

1. Focusing on how lifestyle choices affect the cardiovascular system, identify a lifestyle choice (specific foods in diet, exercise, smoking, etc…) and briefly explain the structural &/or functional influences of this lifestyle choice in the development of cardiovascular disease.
2. Though some people clearly benefit from lifestyle choices promoting cardiovascular health, there are some misguided reasons people adopt these choices. What are these reasons and what do you think is important information for them to have?
3. How have you or someone you know experienced a social change by being selective in his/her lifestyle choices to prevent cardiovascular disease? (restaurant choices, birthday celebrations, family and friend get-togethers, food shopping, conversations at work, with friends, or at home, etc) If you don’t know someone, what assumptions can you make that are supported by your research on this topic?
4. Choose one hormone from the textbook information related to the cardiovascular system and briefly describe its influence on maintaining normal blood pressure.