What is cardiovascular disease?
Cardiovascular disease is a broad term used to describe a range of diseases that affect your heart or blood vessels. The various diseases that fall under the umbrella of cardiovascular disease include coronary artery disease, heart attack, heart failure, high blood pressure and stroke.
The term "cardiovascular disease" is often used interchangeably with heart disease because both terms refer to diseases of the heart or arteries. By whatever name you call it – cardiovascular disease or heart disease – it's clear that diseases of the heart and blood vessels are serious problems. Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of men and women worldwide. In the United States alone, cardiovascular disease is responsible for 40 percent of deaths – more than all forms of cancer combined.
What causes cardiovascular disease?
While cardiovascular disease can refer to many different types of heart or blood vessel problems, it's used most often to describe damage caused to your heart or blood vessels by atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is a disease that affects your arteries. Arteries are blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients from your heart to the rest of your body.
Healthy arteries are flexible, strong and elastic. Over time, however, too much pressure in your arteries can make the walls thick and stiff, sometimes restricting blood flow to your organs and tissues. This process is called arteriosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, and atherosclerosis is the most common form of this disorder. The same risk factors responsible for atherosclerosis as those connected with general heart and cardiovascular disease:
- An unhealthy diet (lots of saturated fats)
- Lack of exercise
- Being overweight
- Smoking
All of these are major risk factors for developing atherosclerosis and, in turn, cardiovascular disease.
Some forms of cardiovascular disease aren't caused by atherosclerosis. Those forms include congenital heart disease, heart valve diseases, heart infections or disease of the heart muscle, called cardiomyopathy.
Source: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cardiovascular-disease/HB00032%20
Mayo Clinic online