Synopsis
Excerpt
Cardiovascular disease (CVD), in broad terms, comprises diseases of the heart, blood vessels, and circulation. The most common CVDs are hypertension, coronary artery disease (CAD), cerebrovascular disease, and peripheral vascular disease (aneurysms and peripheral arterial disease [PAD]; see Table 1.1). Other CVDs include congenital heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, valvular heart disease, congestive heart failure, and cardiac arrhythmias. Some researchers use the term coronary heart disease (CHD) interchangeably with CAD. However, CAD more specifically refers to atheroscerotic disease of the coronary arteries, whereas CHD can be caused by atherosderotic and nonatherosclerotic (e.g., autoimmune, infectious) processes. This chapter provides an overview of the prevalence and clinical manifestations of hypertension and the atherosclerotic diseases examined in subsequent chapters of this book.
Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease
It is estimated that approximately 50 million adults in the United States have hypertension (Sixth Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure, 1997), 12 million . . .