Cardiovascular Diseases - Cardiac (Heart) & Vascular Health Issues

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Heart disease is a word used to describe many different conditions affecting the heart or blood vessels.

Types

1) There are many cardiovascular diseases involving the blood vessels. They are known as vascular diseases:

• Coronary artery disease (also known as coronary heart disease and ischemic heart disease) also
  • Atherosclerosis – (hardening of the arteries) This condition results from a buildup of plaque on the inside of the arteries, which reduces blood flow to the heart (see: Arteriosclerosis/Atherosclerosis)
  • Arteriosclerosis - the thickening, hardening and loss of elasticity of the walls of arteries
  • Coronary Thrombosis / Occlusion -- blockage by a clot in a coronary artery that can result in a myocardial infarction or death of a part of the heart muscle. It can cause a heart attack.
  • Myocardial infarction commonly known as Heart Attack
• Peripheral arterial disease – disease of blood vessels that supply blood to the arms and legs
• Stroke/Cerebrovascular disease (CVA) – disease of blood vessels that supply blood to the brain (includes Stroke)
• Renal artery stenosis
• Aneurism - can occur anywhere, but the most common are:
  • Arterial and venous, with arterial being more common.
  • Aortic aneurysm: occurs in the major artery from the heart; namely aortic aneurysms including thoracic aortic aneurysms and abdominal aortic aneurysms
  • Cerebral aneurysm. also known as intracranial or brain aneurysms occurs in the brain, including cerebral aneurysms, berry aneurysms, and Charcot–Bouchard aneurysms. This can cause severe strokes.
  • Popliteal artery aneurysm: occurs in the leg behind the knee
  • Mesenteric artery aneurysm: occurs in the intestine
  • Splenic artery aneurysm: occurs in an artery in the spleen
  • The heart, including coronary artery aneurysms, ventricular aneurysms, aneurysm of sinus of Valsalva, and aneurysms following cardiac surgery.
  • The kidney, including renal artery aneurysm and intraparechymal aneurysms.
  • Capillaries, specifically capillary aneurysms

2) There are also many cardiovascular diseases that involve the heart.

• Cardiomyopathy – diseases of cardiac muscle – weak heart muscles
• Hypertensive heart disease – diseases of the heart secondary to high blood pressure or hypertension
• Heart Failure (congestive heart failure)
• Pulmonary heart disease – a failure at the right side of the heart with respiratory system involvement
• Cardiac arrhythmia – abnormalities of heart rhythm (cardiac arrythmias)
• Inflammatory heart disease
  • Endocarditis – inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium. The structures most commonly involved are the heart valves.
  • Inflammatory cardiomegaly
  • Myocarditis – inflammation of the myocardium, the muscular part of the heart.
• Valvular heart disease
• Congenital Heart Disease / Defect – heart structure malformations existing at birth
• Rheumatic Heart Disease / fever – heart muscles and valves damage due to rheumatic fever caused by Streptococcus pyogenes a group A streptococcal infection.

Mortality:

Approximately 600,000 people die from heart disease in the United States every year, according to the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention (CDC). It’s a leading cause of death in both men and women. Coronary artery disease and stroke account for 80% of CVD deaths in males and 75% of CVD deaths in females.[1] Disease onset is typically seven to ten years earlier in men as compared to women.[11]

In 2008, 30% of all global death is attributed to cardiovascular diseases. Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally.[1] This is true in all areas of the world except Africa.[1] Together they resulted in 17.3 million deaths (31.5%) in 2013 up from 12.3 million (25.8%) in 1990.[2] Deaths, at a given age, from CVD are more common and have been increasing in much of the developing world, while rates have declined in most of the developed world since the 1970s.[8][9] Most cardiovascular disease affects older adults. In the United States 11% of people between 20 and 40 have CVD, while 37% between 40 and 60, 71% of people between 60 and 80, and 85% of people over 80 have CVD.[10] The average age of death from coronary artery disease in the developed world is around 80 while it is around 68 in the developing world.[8]

See the following for Additional Reading:

• http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/guide/heart-disease-symptoms
• What is Cardiovascular Disease?
• http://www.healthline.com/health/heart-disease/types#Overview1
• Different heart diseases
• Heart Disease Symptoms
• Cardiovascular disease
• The Science of a Broken Heart

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