What is Heart & Cardiovascular Disease?
While often thought of as the same thing, heart and cardiovascular disease are different and involve different parts of your body.
- Heart disease refers only to diseases of the heart and the blood vessel system within the heart.
- Cardiovascular disease refers to diseases of the heart and blood vessel system within a person’s entire body, such as the brain, legs and lungs. “Cardio” refers to the heart and “vascular” refers to the blood vessel system.
The heart is a strong, muscular pump slightly larger than your fist. It continuously pumps blood through the circulatory system, which is the network of elastic tubes that allows blood to flow throughout your body. The circulatory system includes two major organs (the heart and lungs) and blood vessels (arteries, capillaries and veins). Arteries and capillaries carry oxygen- and nutrient-rich blood from the heart and lungs to all parts of the body. Veins carry oxygen- and nutrient-depleted blood back to the heart and lungs.
Over time, arteries that bring blood to the heart and brain can become blocked from a buildup of cells, fat and cholesterol (plaque). Reduced blood flow to the heart from blockages in the arteries causes heart attacks. Lack of blood flow to the brain from a blood clot or bleeding in the brain from a broken blood vessel causes strokes.