cardiovascular disease

Cardiovascular disease is the broad umbrella term for any disorder of the heart or blood vessels. Rather than one illness, it is a whole family — heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, rhythm disturbances, valve problems and diseased arteries in the legs or neck all live under this one roof.

Many of the most common forms share a single underlying process: atherosclerosis, the slow build-up of fatty, fibrous plaque inside artery walls that narrows them and can suddenly rupture and clot. When this happens in the heart's own arteries it causes a heart attack; in the brain's arteries, a stroke. Other cardiovascular diseases stem from high blood pressure, infections, inherited conditions or defects present at birth.

Taken together, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. The reassuring counterpoint is that much of it is preventable or treatable: not smoking, managing blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes, staying active and using proven medicines substantially lower the risk.