Cardiovascular Disease

What is cardiovascular disease?

Cardiovascular disease is a group of diseases affecting your heart and blood vessels. These diseases can affect one or many parts of your heart and/or blood vessels. A person may be symptomatic (physically experiencing the disease) or asymptomatic (not feeling anything at all).

• Cardiovascular disease includes heart or blood vessel issues, including:
• Narrowing of the blood vessels in your heart, other organs or throughout your body.
• Heart and blood vessel problems present at birth.
• Heart valves that aren’t working right.
• Irregular heart rhythms.

How common is cardiovascular disease?

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide and in the U.S.

Almost half of adults in the U.S. have some form of cardiovascular disease. It affects people of all ages, sexes, ethnicities and socioeconomic levels. One in three women and people assigned female at birth dies from cardiovascular disease.