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Heart disease - Overview

Alternative Names

Cardiovascular disorders

Definition of Heart disease:

Heart disease is any disorder that affects the heart's ability to function normally. Various forms of heart disease include:

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

The most common cause of heart disease is a narrowing of or blockage in the coronary arteries supplying blood to the heart muscle (coronary artery disease). Some heart diseases are present at birth (congenital heart disease).

Other causes include:

Abnormal heart rhythm
Abnormal heart valve function
High blood pressure (hypertension)
Weakening of the heart's pumping ability, often caused by infection or toxins (cardiomyopathy)

Heart, section through the middle

Heart, front view

Coronary artery blockage

Reviewed last on: 10/5/2008
David C. Dugdlae, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Criqui MH. Epidemiology of cardiovascular disease. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007: chap 49.

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