Heart Disease & Cardiovascular Disease — Is There a Difference?

Posted: Feb. 1, 2005

While often thought of as the same thing, heart disease and cardiovascular disease 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 diseases of the blood vessel system (arteries, capillaries, veins) 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.

What are the different types of heart and cardiovascular disease?
There are many forms of heart and cardiovascular disease, and what follows is a description of the most common of these diseases.

Atherosclerosis is a type of arteriosclerosis (or thickening and hardening of the arteries). As we age, some hardening of the arteries can occur naturally. When a person has atherosclerosis, the inner walls of the arteries become narrower due to a buildup of plaque. Plaque results from deposits of fat, cholesterol and other substances. Blood clots form, blocking blood flow, which can lead to heart attacks and strokes. High blood cholesterol, smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and not being physically active all put you at greater risk for atherosclerosis.

Coronary heart disease (or coronary artery disease). Coronary heart disease, the most common form of heart disease, affects the blood vessels (or coronary arteries) of the heart. It causes angina (chest pain) and heart attacks. Heart-related problems tend to increase with age. The good news is that you can do something about preventing this disease. High blood pressure and cholesterol, smoking, obesity and not being physically active all put you at greater risk for coronary heart disease.

Angina. A pain or discomfort in the chest that happens when some part of the heart does not receive enough blood. Angina seldom causes permanent damage to the heart, like a heart attack can.

Stroke. Lack of blood flow to the brain from a blood clot, or bleeding in the brain from a broken blood vessel, causes a stroke. Without a good blood supply, brain cells cannot get enough oxygen and begin to die. You can also have what are sometimes called "mini strokes," or transient ischemic attacks (TIAs), where no damage is done to the brain. But even though they do no damage, TIAs are serious and can put you at higher risk of having a full stroke. Not controlling high blood pressure, smoking and diabetes all increase your risk for stroke.

High blood pressure (or hypertension). High blood pressure is diagnosed when the blood pressure reading consistently exceeds 140/90. It is often called a "silent" killer because it usually has no signs or symptoms. High blood pressure can cause heart failure and also can lead to stroke, kidney failure and other health problems. If you have high blood pressure, then diet, exercise and medicine can help you to lower and control your blood pressure.

Heart failure. Heart failure means that the heart is not able to pump blood through the body as well as it should. It does NOT mean that the heart literally stops. Heart failure develops slowly over time and can have a large impact on a person's life and ability to perform daily activities.

Congestive heart failure is a term often used to describe heart failure. But congestion, or the buildup of fluid, is only one symptom of heart failure and does not occur in all people who have heart failure.

Source: Center for Disease Control and Prevention

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