Cardiovascular Disease(CVD)

Cardiovascular disease is caused by disorders of the heart and blood vessels, and includes-

• Coronary heart disease – disease of the blood vessels supplying the heart muscle
• Cerebrovascular disease – disease of the blood vessels supplying the brain
• Peripheral arterial disease – disease of blood vessels supplying the arms and legs
• Rheumatic heart disease – damage to the heart muscle and heart valves from rheumatic fever, caused by streptococcal bacteria
• Congenital heart disease – malformations of heart structure existing at birth
• Deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism – blood clots in the leg veins, which can dislodge and move to the heart and lungs

Causes/Risk factors

Risk factors of heart disease and stroke are as follows-

• Unhealthy diet
• Lack of adequate physical activity
• Use of tobacco use
• Excessive alcohol intake

Symptoms:

There are no symptoms of the underlying disease of the blood vessels in most cases. A heart attack or stroke may be the first warning of underlying disease.

Symptoms of a heart attack include:

• Pain/discomfort in the centre of the chest, arms, the left shoulder, elbows, jaw, or back
• Breathlessness
• Nausea or vomiting
• Dizziness or fainting
• Sweating and becoming pale

Symptoms of a stroke include:

• Commonest- sudden weakness of the face, arm, or leg, usually on one side of the body
• Numbness of the face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body
• Confusion, difficulty speaking or understanding speech
• Problems seeing with one or both eyes
• Problems in walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
• Severe headache with no known cause
• Fainting

Symptoms of rheumatic heart disease includes:

• Breathlessness
• Feeling extremely tired
• Irregular heart beats
• Chest pain
• Fainting

Diagnosis and treatment

People with cardiovascular disease or who are at high risk for developing heart disease (due to the presence of one or more risk factors such as high blood pressure, high blood glucose, abnormal lipid levels or already established disease) need early identification and treatment with counselling and medicines, as appropriate.

Prevention

Most cardiovascular diseases can be prevented by addressing behavioural risk factors such as tobacco use, unhealthy diet and obesity, physical inactivity and harmful use of alcohol using population-wide strategies.