what are cardiovascular diseases? What are their causes?

Answer 1

Diseases that affect heart and blood vessels are cardiovascular diseases
there are many causes
1.atherosclerosis
2.congenital
3.Infectipons
4.trauma
5.toxins
6.alcohol etc

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

2

Answer 4

I am in nursing school right now and through my course study, cardiovascular diseases is a collective term for any number of diseases affecting the heart and blood vessels. Stroke, heart attack (myocardial infarction), hardening of the arteries (arteriosclerosis) to fatty plaque buildup in the arteries (atherosclerosis)...any of these can be considered a cardiovascular disease. Chronic high blood pressure is also in this group and can lead to a stroke if blood pressure is not controlled. Most of these diseases are able to be controlled by diet and exercise. Atherosclerosis is narrowing of the arteries (and therefore higher blood pressure b/c of less area for blood to flow) by fatty plaque buildups on the inside walls of arteries. Arteriosclerosis is narrowing of the blood vessels inside and can come from a number of causes but is most often related to smoking habits. Smoking cessation is recommended for anyone with a family history of heart disease or current cardiovascular problems. Wikipedia has wonderful information as well and is in simple lay mans terms. Please see this site for further answers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiovascular_diseases

Answer 5

Diseases of the heart and/or blood vessels.

Currently we have an epidemic of type 2 diabetes. The same excessive sugar -carbohydrate consumption that causes obesity also elevates cholesterol. Trans fats (hydrogenated fats and oils) are another bad factor.

Once blood sugar rises with the diabetes protein gets glycolized (sugar attaches to it) It is the major cause of capillary blockage.
In fact the long term test for blood sugar is measuring the number of red blood cells that have been glycolized. Once this has happened their ability to transport oxygen is compromised - another source of bad health.

Answer 6

Cardiovascular disease usually occurs as a result of arterial damage. The symptoms and treatments depend on which set (or sets) of arteries are affected.

In coronary heart disease, atherosclerotic plaques (inflamed fatty deposits in the blood vessel wall) obstruct the coronary arteries (blood vessels supplying the heart). Narrowing of arteries is called arterial stenosis. When the blockages become severe enough, the blood flow to the heart is restricted (cardiac ischemia), especially during increased demand (i.e. during exertion or emotion). This results in angina pectoris. The acute stage of coronary heart disease occurs when one of the plaques ruptures, forming a thrombus (blood clot) that acutely occludes the whole artery. The portion of the heart muscle supplied by that artery dies; this is known as a myocardial infarction (or a heart attack in lay parlance). This may result in the death of the patient if the affected area is large enough. If the patient survives, congestive heart failure may result.

Similarly, inflammation and blood clots may obstruct the cerebral arteries (those supplying the brain). As the disease progresses, an artery may be transiently blocked, causing cerebral ischemia. This results in a transient ischemic attack (TIA), called a mini-stroke in lay parlance. If the obstruction is severe, a cerebrovascular accident, or stroke may result, due to the death of brain tissue supplied by the artery.

In peripheral artery disease, obstruction occurs in the arteries of the arms or legs. This results initially in pain, during temporary obstruction, and finally in tissue death and gangrene if not treated.

There are many specific illnesses that may occur in association with these and other cardiovascular disease. In addition to the ones mentioned above, these include hypertension (high blood pressure), arterial aneurysms (arterial enlargement and weakening), cardiomegaly (abnormal enlargement of the heart), tachycardia/bradycardia/arrhythmia (fast/slow/irregular heart rates), cardiac arrest (heart stoppage), cardiomyopathy (heart muscle weakness), heart valve regurgitation (leakage), and heart valve stenosis (narrowing).

There are many risk factors which predispose to various forms of cardiovascular disease. These include the following:

Age
Absence of key nutritional elements, such as polyphenol antioxidants
Diabetes mellitus
Hypercholesterolemia (elevated cholesterol levels) and less than excellent lipoprotein particle profile (cholesterol subtypes)
Tobacco smoking
Higher fibrinogen and PAI-1 blood concentrations
Elevated homocysteine, or even upper half of normal
Elevated blood levels of asymmetric dimethylarginine
High blood pressure
Exposure to high levels of environmental noise
Obesity, especially central or male-type obesity; apart from being linked to diabetes, this form of obesity independently increases cardiovascular risk, presumedly by inducing an inflammatory and procoagulant state
Genetic factors/Family history of cardiovascular disease
Physical inactivity
Being male
Although men have a higher rate of cardiovascular disease than women, it is also the number one health problem for women in industrialized countries. After menopause, the risk for women approaches that of men. Hormone replacement therapy alleviates a number of post-menopausal problems, but appears to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.