Heart disease

Heart disease describes any of several conditions affecting your heart and its surrounding vascular system. Among them are valve disease, abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias), and congenital heart defects, which are problems with the hearts structure or function that are present at birth. Another example of heart disease is heart failure, which describes a heart muscle that is not strong enough to pump blood throughout the body. Diseases of the heart and vascular system (blood vessels) are often related, and come under the blanket term cardiovascular disease.

But most commonly, the term "heart disease" refers to coronary artery disease (CAD). CAD occurs when the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle (coronary arteries) become blocked. When blood can't reach the...