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Definition of Cardiovascular Disease

"Cardiovascular disease" refers to several diseases that affect your heart and blood vessels. Types of cardiovascular disease affecting the heart include syncope, rheumatic heart disease, and heart attack. Types affecting the blood vessels include stroke, high blood pressure, and aortic aneurism. Many kinds of cardiovascular disease share common risk factors (such as smoking and obesity), and most can be treated with lifestyle changes and medications.

Types of cardiovascular disease

i) Cardiovascular Disease in the Heart
The cardiovascular disease types in the heart are more commonly known as heart diseases. What is sometimes a little confusing for people is that "heart disease" is a term more often used to describe the most common type of heart disease: coronary artery disease or coronary heart disease. But there are many other types of heart disease, including:

Angina pectoris, or just angina, including:

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Stable angina Unstable angina Variant angina (also known as Prinzmetal's angina)

Arrhythmias, which are problems with the heart's electrical system that can cause fast, slow, or irregular heartbeats. These include: Atrial fibrillation Heart block, including first-degree AV block, second-degree AV block, and complete AV block Atrial flutter Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome Ventricular tachycardia

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Ventricular fibrillation

Cardiomyopathy (a disease affecting the heart muscle itself), including:

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Dilated cardiomyopathy Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy Restrictive cardiomyopathy

Congestive heart failure, also known just as heart failure

Congenital heart disease (conditions people are born with), such as:

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Atrial septal defect (ASD) Ventricular septal defect (VSD) Patent ductus arteriosus Pulmonic stenosis Congenital aortic stenosis Coarctation of aorta Tetralogy of Fallot

Coronary artery disease (CAD), also known as heart disease, ischemic heart disease, or coronary heart disease (CHD)

Cor pulmonale, which is an enlarged right ventricle Heart attack, also known as a myocardial infarction or MI Heart valve disease, such as:
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Mitral stenosis Mitral valve regurgitation Mitral valve prolapse Aortic stenosis Aortic regurgitation

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Tricuspid stenosis Tricuspid regurgitation

Myocarditis, which is an inflammation of the heart muscle Rheumatic heart disease Pericarditis (inflammation of the lining that surrounds the heart), including constrictive pericarditis Sudden cardiac death Syncope

ii) Cardiovascular Disease in the Blood Vessels

Blood vessels are the structures within the body that move blood so that oxygen and nutrients can get to all of the tissues and so that waste products can be removed. The four types of blood vessels include arteries, veins, capillaries, and lymphatics. Arteries and capillaries carry oxygen- and nutrient-rich blood from the heart and lungs to all parts of the body. Veins carry blood that has been depleted of oxygen and nutrients back to the heart and lungs. Some examples of cardiovascular diseasetypes in the blood vessels include:

Aortic aneurysm Aortitis, which is inflammation of the aorta Arteriosclerosis Atherosclerosis, also known as hardening of the arteries Aortic dissection High blood pressure (hypertension), including:
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Essential hypertension Secondary hypertension Malignant hypertension

Stroke Transient ischemic attack (TIA) Other problems in the arteries, such as:

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Atherosclerosis of the extremities (arteriosclerosis obliterans) Arterial embolism Acute arterial occlusion, which is when a blood vessel becomes blocked Raynaud's phenomenon Arteriovenous fistula Vasculitis Thoracic outlet syndrome

Other problems in veins, including:

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Venous thrombosis Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) Thrombophlebitis Varicose veins Spider veins

Causes of Cardiovascular Disease

The causes of cardiovascular diseasedepend on the specific cardiovascular disease in question. This may seem confusing, but cardiovascular disease is not actually one disease -- rather, it is a name used to describe any disease that affects the heart or blood vessels. Cardiovascular Disease or Condition Angina Cause Temporary decrease in oxygen and nutrients to heart muscle, most commonly fromcoronary artery disease Not known Atherosclerosis Severely narrowed or completely blocked coronary artery from a blood clot Severely narrowed or completely blocked artery in the brain or the rupture of a blood vessel in the brain Not known Damaged or weakened heart muscle, most commonly from: Coronary artery disease High blood pressure Diabetes

Atherosclerosis Coronary artery disease Heart attack Stroke

High blood pressure Congestive heart failure

Atrial fibrillation

A number of possible causes

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Symptoms of cardiovascular diseases

Symptoms of heart attacks and strokes
Often, there are no symptoms of the underlying disease of the blood vessels. A heart attack or stroke may be the first warning of underlying disease. Symptoms of a heart attack include: pain or discomfort in the centre of the chest; pain or discomfort in the arms, the left shoulder, elbows, jaw, or back. In addition the person may experience difficulty in breathing or shortness of breath; feeling sick or vomiting; feeling light-headed or faint; breaking into a cold sweat; and becoming pale. Women are more likely to have shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, and back or jaw pain. The most common symptom of a stroke is sudden weakness of the face, arm, or leg, most often on one side of the body. Other symptoms include sudden onset of: numbness of the face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body; confusion, difficulty speaking or understanding speech; difficulty seeing with one or both eyes; difficulty walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination; severe headache with no known cause; and fainting or unconsciousness. People experiencing these symptoms should seek medical care immediately.

What is rheumatic heart disease?

Rheumatic heart disease is caused by damage to the heart valves and heart muscle from the inflammation and scarring caused by rheumatic fever. Rheumatic fever is caused by streptococcal bacteria, which usually begins as a sore throat or tonsillitis in children. Rheumatic fever mostly affects children in developing countries, especially where poverty is widespread. Globally, almost 2% of deaths from cardiovascular diseases is related to rheumatic heart disease, while 42% of deaths from cardiovascular diseases is related to ischaemic heart disease, and 34% to cerebrovascular disease. Symptoms of rheumatic heart disease

Symptoms of rheumatic heart disease include: shortness of breath, fatigue, irregular heart beats, chest pain and fainting. Symptoms of rheumatic fever include: fever, pain and swelling of the joints, nausea, stomach cramps and vomiting.