What are the 10 most common cardiovascular conditions?
In this article we will describe the 10 most common heart and cardiovascular conditions.
1. Ischaemic heart disease (IHD)
IHD is the most common heart problem. IHD means you have blockages in your coronary arteries – the vessels that supply blood to your heart. This leads to a decrease in the flow of blood to your heart muscle, keeping it from getting the oxygen it needs. The disease is caused by atheroma (atherosclerosis), a condition sometimes called ‘hardening of the arteries’.
IHD usually presents as pain in your chest (usually the left side radiating down the left arm). This is called angina, or myocardial infarction (a heart attack).
Some things that may put you at a higher risk of IHD are:
- Age (for men, the risk of IHD goes up after age 55; for women, the risk rises sharply after menopause)
- Being inactive
- Having diabetes or metabolic syndrome
- Family history of IHD (genetic)
- High blood pressure
- High levels of LDL ‘bad’ cholesterol or low levels of HDL ‘good’ cholesterol
- Obesity
- Smoking.
2. Cardiac arrhythmias
An arrhythmia, also known as a cardiac arrhythmia, is an irregular heartbeat that can cause the heart to beat too quickly, too slowly, or irregularly.
The main types of arrhythmia are:
- Atrial fibrillation (AF) – this is the most common type, where the heart beats irregularly and faster (or sometimes slower) than normal
- Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) – episodes of abnormally fast heart rate at rest
- Bradycardia – the heart beats more slowly than normal
- Heart block – the heart beats more slowly than normal and can cause people to collapse
- Ventricular fibrillation (VF) – a rare, rapid and disorganised rhythm of heartbeats that rapidly leads to loss of consciousness and sudden death if not treated immediately.
3. Heart failure – acute and chronic (congestive)
With heart failure, your heart doesn’t pump blood as well as it should. It is usually caused by IHD. But it can also be due to: high blood pressure; valvular and congenital heart disease; cardiomyopathy (heart muscle disease), or certain other conditions.
Acute and chronic heart failure usually present as shortness of breath, ankle swelling or collapse. Patients often have arrhythmias as well.
4. Valvular heart disease
Your heart has four valves that open and close to direct blood flow between your heart’s four chambers, the lungs, and blood vessels.
Various diseases make it hard for a valve to open and close the right way. Blood flow can be blocked (stenosis, tightening of a heart valve), or blood can leak (regurgitation, or leaking valve).
Diseases of the heart valves include:
Endocarditis
This is a heart valve infection that’s caused by bacteria, which enter the blood and take root on heart valves during illness, after surgery, or after using intravenous drugs. This usually happens if you already have valve problems.
Antibiotics can usually cure it, but the disease is life-threatening without treatment.
If your heart valves are seriously damaged as a result of endocarditis, you may need valve replacement surgery.
Rheumatic heart disease
This condition develops when your heart muscle and valves are damaged by rheumatic fever, which is caused by the same bacteria (streptococci) that cause ‘Strep throat’ and scarlet fever.
Rheumatic heart disease was more common earlier in the 20th century. But doctors are now able to prevent it by using antibiotics to treat the diseases that lead to it. If you do get it, the symptoms usually show up many years after the infection.
5. Pericardial disease
Any disease of the pericardium, the sac that surrounds your heart, is called a pericardial disease. One of the more common diseases is pericarditis (inflammation of the pericardium).
It’s usually caused by an infection with a virus, inflammatory diseases such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis, or injury to your pericardium. Pericarditis can also follow open heart surgery.
6. Cardiomyopathy (heart muscle disease)
Cardiomyopathy is a disease of your heart muscle, or myocardium. It gets stretched, thickened, or stiff. Your heart may get too weak to pump well. It usually presents as arrhythmias or heart failure.
There are many possible causes of the disease, including genetic heart conditions, reactions to certain drugs or toxins (such as alcohol), and infections from a virus. Sometimes, chemotherapy causes cardiomyopathy. Many times, doctors cannot find the exact cause.
7. Congenital heart disease
Congenital heart disease happens when something goes wrong while the heart is forming in a baby that’s still in the womb. The heart abnormality sometimes leads to problems right after birth, but other times there aren’t any symptoms until you become an adult.
Septal abnormalities (‘holes in the heart’) are among the most common congenital heart problems. These are holes in the wall that separates the left and right sides of your heart. Procedures can done to patch the hole.
In some babies, a small blood vessel known as the ductus arteriosus doesn’t close up at birth as it should. . Doctors can treat this with surgery or a procedure.
8. Cardiac arrest
Heart disease can present suddenly with a cardiac arrest.
A cardiac arrest occurs suddenly and often without warning. It happens when the heart’s ‘electrical system’ malfunctions and stops blood flow from the heart. The most common cause of cardiac arrest is ventricular fibrillation (VF) – causing the heart to beat in a rapid and erratic rhythm.
When the heart cannot pump blood to the body’s organs, the person loses consciousness and has no pulse. Minutes later, the person may die if they do not receive treatment. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) works and should be attempted.
9. Hypertensive heart disease (HHD)
This is a group of medical problems that can develop over many years in people with high blood pressure (hypertension). It’s the leading cause of illness and death from high blood pressure.
HHD occurs when chronic high blood pressure increases the workload on the heart, causing structural and functional changes in the myocardium (heart muscle).
These changes can include:
- Thickening of the heart muscle and blood vessel walls
- Damage to the heart, kidneys, eyes and other organs.
HHD can lead to a number of complications, including: heart failure, arrhythmias, and increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
10. Pregnancy-related heart disease
Preexisting heart conditions
These are heart diseases that were diagnosed before pregnancy. These conditions may or may not cause symptoms, but during pregnancy, may lead to complications. Common pre-existing heart conditions that may raise the risk of pregnancy complications include congenital heart disease, cardiomyopathy, heart valve disease, and aortic disease.
Heart conditions that develop in pregnancy
These are cardiovascular conditions that were not present before pregnancy. Conditions that may develop during pregnancy include: high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, arrhythmias, spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD), aortic dissection, angina/myocardial infarction, peripartum cardiomyopathy, deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and pulmonary embolism (PE).
Summary
We have described the 10 most common cardiovascular conditions. We hope its has been helpful.
Other resource
Review article: Lopez, 2023
