Cardiovascular Diseases- Causes, Symptoms, Treatments

Cardiovascular Diseases is an unspecific term meant to refer heart and blood vessel diseases. There are myriad conditions that fall within the said categories of diseases such as coronary artery diseases, hypertension or high blood pressure, heart failure, and stroke. CVD has remained one of the leading killers, with nearly 17.9 million lives annually.

Table of Contents
Types of Cardiovascular Diseases
Causes and Risk Factors of CVD
Cardiovascular Disease Signs
Preventive Measures for CVD
Types of Cardiovascular Diseases
1. Coronary Artery Disease: This is mainly due to atherosclerosis-induced narrowing of the coronary arteries in almost all cases leading either to angina or myocardial infarction. Myocardial infarction later results in sudden death.

2. High Blood Pressure: "Silent killer" is the general term for this, because it destroys the blood vessels. Aftermath could be a heart attack, stroke or worse.

3.Heart Attack: Ischemic heart attack resulting from obstruction of a coronary artery that supplies one portion of the heart, or Hemorrhagic heart attack by rupture of a vessel which in most cases involves the heart.

4.Heart Failure: Coronary Heart Failure where a heart fails to pump enough in inducing fatigue, shortness of breath, and fluid accumulation.

Causes and Risk Factors of CVD
CVD is primarily lifestyle or hereditary/ environmental background. The main risks include;

High Blood Pressure: It is one of the leading conditions that cause heart attacks and strokes. Uncontrolled blood pressure weakens and breaks arteries.

High Cholesterol: Excessive cholesterol causes the formation of plaques within the arteries, thus narrowing in diameter along with blood supply to the heart and brain.

Smoking: This is one major cause of CVD due to smoking since it brings about an inflammation within the lining of the arteries, which later leads to a poor oxygenation process within the blood.