Cardiovascular disease refers to any disease affecting the circulatory system, especially the heart and the blood vessels. Atherosclerosis and high blood pressure are the major causes of cardiovascular diseases. These diseases can affect other body organs other than the heart and blood vessels. Some of the organs affected are the kidney and the brain.

Types of Cardiovascular Diseases

• Coronary heart disease. It is also called ischemic or coronary heart disease. The disease affects the coronary arteries in such a way that they become narrow or blocked because of plaque deposition on their walls.
• Cardiomegaly. People who have this disease have their heart enlarged abnormally sometimes because of the excessive work the heart does in order to pump blood after an underlying condition. Conditions like hypertension and valvularthe blood pumped.
• Congenital heart diseases. Examples of this kind of diseases include heart septal defects and congenital valvular disease. The defects come as a result of the use of drugs, alcohol and smoking by pregnant women. Drugs like thalidomide and cocaine are a common cause of congenital heart diseases in newborns of mothers who used them during the pregnancy period.
• Heart attack. This heart disease comes about when the heart muscles fails to get adequate oxygen supply because of coronary heart disease. The cardiac muscle that fails to get oxygen undergoes infarction resulting in a heart attack. That explains why the disease is also called acute myocardial infarction.
• Infectious diseases of the circulatory system. These diseases originate from the pathogenic organism infections. Some of the diseases caused by infections are myocarditis, endocarditis, and pericarditis. Rheumatic heart disease and vasculitis are known to occur secondary to infections.
• Peripheral arterial disease. This disease affects blood vessels of the legs and arms compromising blood supply to this very parts that they supply.
• Cerebrovascular disease. This disease is very fatal, and it affects the blood vessels that supply the brain. Once they vessels get affected, conditions like stroke may ensue, like a complication.
• Pulmonary heart disease. The disease affects the right side of the heart. In addition, the pulmonary system gets affected, hence its name.

In summary, cardiovascular diseases are those diseases that affect the heart and the blood vessels (the cardiovascular system).