Cardiovascular disease

Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease:
– Age, sex, tobacco use, physical inactivity
– Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, excessive alcohol consumption
– Unhealthy diet, obesity, genetic predisposition
– Family history of cardiovascular disease
– Raised blood pressure (hypertension), blood sugar (diabetes mellitus), blood cholesterol (hyperlipidemia)
– Undiagnosed celiac disease, psychosocial factors, poverty, low educational status
– Air pollution, poor sleep

Genetics and Cardiovascular Disease:
– Parental cardiovascular disease increases risk by ~3 fold
– Single variant (Mendelian) or polygenic genetic influences
– Over 40 inherited cardiovascular diseases traceable to single disease-causing DNA variant
– Common cardiovascular diseases likely due to many genetic variants
– Genetic predisposition plays a significant role in cardiovascular diseases

Impact of Age on Cardiovascular Disease:
– Most crucial risk factor for developing cardiovascular diseases
– Risk triples with each decade of life
– Coronary fatty streaks can start forming in adolescence
– 82% of coronary heart disease deaths are in individuals aged 65+
– Stroke risk doubles every decade after age 55

Prevention and Lifestyle Changes for Cardiovascular Disease:
– Healthy eating, exercise, avoiding tobacco smoke, limited alcohol intake
– Treating high blood pressure, blood lipids, diabetes
– Antibiotics for strep throat to prevent rheumatic heart disease
– Lifestyle changes and drug treatment for hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes

Diagnosis, Treatment, and Global Impact of Cardiovascular Disease:
– Cardiovascular diseases are diagnosed earlier in men than in women
– Various heart diseases including cardiomyopathy, hypertensive heart disease, heart failure
– Congenital heart disease and rheumatic heart disease are specific heart conditions
– Leading cause of death worldwide with 17.9 million deaths in 2015
– Rates of CVD deaths increasing in developing countries, with coronary artery disease and stroke as primary causes

Cardiovascular disease (Wikipedia)

"Heart condition" redirects here. For other uses, see Heart condition (disambiguation).

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina, heart attack), heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia, congenital heart disease, valvular heart disease, carditis, aortic aneurysms, peripheral artery disease, thromboembolic disease, and venous thrombosis.

Cardiovascular disease
Micrograph of a heart with fibrosis (yellow) and amyloidosis (brown). Movat's stain.
Specialty	Cardiology
Symptoms	Chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, loss of consciousness
Complications	Heart failure, heart attack, stroke, aneurysm, peripheral artery disease, sudden cardiac arrest.
Usual onset	Older adults
Types	Coronary artery diseases, stroke, heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, cardiomyopathy, Arrhythmia
Risk factors	Diabetes, high blood lipids, excess weight, Smoking, excessive drug use, and excessive alcohol intake
Prevention	Healthy eating, exercise, avoiding tobacco smoke, limited alcohol intake, Overall lifestyle changes
Treatment	Treating high blood pressure, high blood lipids, diabetes
Medication	Aspirin, beta blockers, blood thinners
Deaths	17.9 million / 32% (2015)

The underlying mechanisms vary depending on the disease. It is estimated that dietary risk factors are associated with 53% of CVD deaths. Coronary artery disease, stroke, and peripheral artery disease involve atherosclerosis. This may be caused by high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes mellitus, lack of exercise, obesity, high blood cholesterol, poor diet, excessive alcohol consumption, and poor sleep, among other things. High blood pressure is estimated to account for approximately 13% of CVD deaths, while tobacco accounts for 9%, diabetes 6%, lack of exercise 6%, and obesity 5%. Rheumatic heart disease may follow untreated strep throat.

It is estimated that up to 90% of CVD may be preventable. Prevention of CVD involves improving risk factors through: healthy eating, exercise, avoidance of tobacco smoke and limiting alcohol intake. Treating risk factors, such as high blood pressure, blood lipids and diabetes is also beneficial. Treating people who have strep throat with antibiotics can decrease the risk of rheumatic heart disease. The use of aspirin in people who are otherwise healthy is of unclear benefit.

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide except Africa. Together CVD resulted in 17.9 million deaths (32.1%) in 2015, up from 12.3 million (25.8%) in 1990. 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. Coronary artery disease and stroke account for 80% of CVD deaths in males and 75% of CVD deaths in females. 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. 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. CVD is typically diagnosed seven to ten years earlier in men than in women.