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Cardiovascular Disease: Incidences, Causes, Trends and Treatment

Cardiovascular disease, or CVD, is a growing problem in the United States. According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular disease was responsible for approximately 34.6% of all deaths nationwide in 2006.

CVD is an umbrella term that is used to denote several different diseases; top examples include high blood pressure, stroke, coronary heart disease – including heart attacks and chest pain – and heart failure. Atherosclerosis, or the narrowing of the arteries due to fatty plaque buildup, is another all-too-common form of cardiovascular disease. Read on below to learn additional facts about CVD, including statistics, causes, treatments and prevention.

Cardiovascular Disease Prevalence and Mortality Statistics

In 2006, approximately 81 million people in the United States suffered from some form of cardiovascular disease. Of that number, about 58 million cases involved high blood pressure. Another 6 million of them involved coronary heart disease, and approximately 2 million of them involved stroke(Cardiovascualr Disease Facts). More than 830,000 deaths in 2006 were attributed to CVD. While the rate of CVD-related deaths declined by roughly 29% between 1996 and 2006, the number of actual deaths caused by the condition dropped by only 12.9%. According to the Mayo Clinic, cardiovascular disease remains the number-one killer of men and women in the United States.

Top Causes of Cardiovascular Disease

Many different things can trigger cardiovascular disease. According to the World Health Organization, the dramatic increase in incidences of CVD is largely attributable to changes in tobacco consumption, physical activity levels and dietary habits (Cardiovascualr disease causes)

According to the Mayo Clinic, the top causes of cardiovascular disease include:

•  Lack of exercise
•  Unhealthy diet
•  Obesity
•  Smoking
•  Alcohol use

All of these things can weaken the heart, making it more susceptible to various types of CVD. These habits can also increase the odds of atherosclerosis.

Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease

Like many other diseases, there are several different strategies for treating cardiovascular disease. The right strategy will depend on the severity of the disease and how life-threatening it is. According to the Mayo Clinic, common treatments for CVD fall into three broad categories: lifestyle changes, medications and medical procedures.

Lifestyle Changes
Common lifestyle changes include getting more exercise, quitting smoking, limiting alcohol intake and switching to a low-fat, low-sodium diet.

Medications
Many medications can treat cardiovascular disease. Blood thinners, like aspirin, often work. Statins and fibrates can be used to lower cholesterol. Blood pressure can be reduced through beta blockers, ACE inhibitors and diuretics.

Medical Procedures
A procedure called a coronary angioplasty can be used to clear blockages in the heart through the use of balloons and stents. A more serious procedure, called a coronary artery bypass, involves removing the infected artery and replacing it with a vein from elsewhere in the body.

Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease

Ultimately, preventing cardiovascular disease is vastly preferable to attempting to treat it. The World Health Organization has many suggestions for keeping CVD at bay. They include:

• Maintain a healthy weight
• Don’t smoke; if you do, quit
• Limit your intake of excessively sugary or salty foods
• Get at least thirty minutes of exercise per day
• Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts
• Avoid saturated fats and trans-fatty acids
• Consume more omega-3 fatty acids – fish oil is an excellent source

Clearly, many current trends – especially inactivity and fatty, sugar diets – will need to be reigned in if the incidences of cardiovascular disease in the U.S. are to be brought under control. While medicine and medical procedures can extend life and, in some cases, reverse the course of cardiovascular disease, dramatic lifestyle changes – and cultural shifts – will need to occur before the prevalence of CVD begins to go down.

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