Cardiovascular Diseases

Cardiovascular disease pertains to a class of disease that involves the heart or the blood vessels (arteries and veins). Although the term technically refers to that disease that affects the cardiovascular system, usually it is used to refer to atherosclerosis or arterial disease.

Various diseases that fall under the umbrella name of cardiovascular disease include heart failure, heart attack, stroke, coronary artery disease and stroke.

The attempts to prevent cardiovascular disease are more effective when it is based on removing and preventing causes, and most often they also take the form of modifying risk factors. Some factors though, such as age, gender and heredity are not modifiable. The most effective and easily modifiable factor is abstinence from smoking. Also, regular cardiovascular exercise (aerobic exercise) complement healthful eating habits. Combining healthy diet and exercise is one way of improving serum cholesterol levels and reduce risks of cardiovascular diseases; if not, "cholesterol-lowering" drugs, such as the statins maybe prescribed by a physician. These medications also have other additional protective benefits aside from their lipoprotein profile improvement. Aspirin may also be prescribed, this has shown to decrease the clot formation of the blood that may lead to myocardial infarctions and strokes; it is prescribed for patients with one or more cardiovascular risk factors.

Treating cardiovascular disease depends on the specific form of the disease in every patient, but an effective treatment always includes preventive lifestyle change. Certain medications such as aspirin (prevent blood clot) and statins (a cholesterol lowering drug) may be helpful.  In some severe circumstances, surgery or angioplasty may also be resulted to.