Cardiovascular diseases involve the heart or blood vessels and affect the structures or function of your heart.
The cardiovascular or circulatory system supplies the body with blood. It consists of the heart, arteries, veins, and capillaries.
Common heart diseases
1. Coronary artery disease
This is damage or disease in the heart’s major blood vessels caused when cholesterol accumulates on the artery walls, creating a waxy substance called plaque, which narrows your coronary arteries and decreases blood flow to your heart.
2. High blood pressure
A condition in which the force of the blood against the artery walls is too high.
High blood pressure is often associated with few or no symptoms and it is possible to have it for years without knowing it. Over time and if left untreated, it increases your risk of getting a heart attack or stroke.
3. Heart Attack
A heart attack happens when your heart stops pumping blood due to a blocked artery.
A blocked artery prevents oxygen – rich blood from reaching a section of the heart. If the blocked artery is not unblocked quickly, the part of the heart nourished by that artery begins to die.
4. Congestive heart failure
A chronic condition in which the heart doesn’t pump blood as well as it should.
Certain conditions, such as narrowed arteries in your heart (coronary artery disease) or high blood pressure, gradually leave your heart too weak or stiff to fill and pump efficiently.
5. Heart arrhythmia
This is an abnormal beating of the heart, whether irregular, too fast or too slow.
6. Peripheral artery disease
A circulatory condition in which narrowed blood vessels reduce blood flow to the limbs.
When you develop peripheral artery disease, your extremities — usually your legs — don’t receive enough blood flow to keep up with demand.
7. Stroke
This is the damage to the brain caused by interruption of its blood supply. A stroke may be caused by a blocked artery or the leaking or bursting of a blood vessel
8. Congenital heart disease
An abnormality in the heart that develops before birth.
The defects can involve the walls of the heart, the valves of the heart, and the arteries and veins near the heart.
9. Heart muscle disease
This is an acquired or hereditary disease of the heart muscle. It occurs when your heart can no longer pump blood to the rest of your body due to coronary artery disease.
Blood vessels to the heart muscle narrow and become blocked. This deprives the heart muscle of oxygen. It is a common cause of heart failure.
10. Coronary artery disease
It is the most common type of heart diseases. When plaque builds up, it narrows your coronary arteries, decreasing blood flow to your heart.
Eventually, the decreased blood flow may cause chest pain (angina), shortness of breath, or other coronary artery disease signs and symptoms. A complete blockage can cause a heart attack.
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