Cardiovascular Disease
Understanding Cardiovascular Disease
An introduction to the major types of heart and blood-vessel disease and how they are measured in population health.
Beginner explanation
“Heart disease” is not one illness. It is an umbrella term for several conditions that affect the heart’s structure and how it works. The most common type in the United States is coronary artery disease, which reduces blood flow to the heart and can lead to a heart attack.[1, 4]
Stroke, which happens when blood supply to part of the brain is blocked or a blood vessel in the brain bursts, is a separate condition — but it shares several key risk factors with heart disease, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and smoking.[5, 8]
Heart disease can be “silent”: some people are not diagnosed until they have signs of a heart attack, heart failure or an irregular heartbeat. CDC reports that about 1 in 5 deaths in the United States is due to heart disease, and that it is the leading cause of death for men, women and people of most racial and ethnic groups.[1, 3]
Key definitions
- Coronary artery disease (CAD)
- Narrowing of the arteries that supply the heart, caused by plaque buildup. Also called coronary heart disease or ischemic heart disease.
- Plaque
- Deposits of cholesterol and other substances that build up in artery walls and reduce blood flow.
- Heart attack
- Damage to heart muscle when its blood supply is blocked.
- Heart failure
- A condition in which the heart cannot pump blood the way it should.
- Arrhythmia
- An irregular heartbeat, sometimes felt as fluttering in the chest (palpitations).
Condition characteristics
When symptoms do appear, they depend on the event. CDC lists the following:[1]
- Heart attack: chest pain or discomfort, upper back or neck pain, heartburn, nausea or vomiting, extreme fatigue, dizziness and shortness of breath.
- Arrhythmia: fluttering feelings in the chest (palpitations).
- Heart failure: shortness of breath, fatigue, or swelling of the feet, ankles, legs, abdomen or neck veins.
Source[1]
Anyone with possible heart attack or stroke symptoms needs emergency care — call 911.[1, 5]
Risk factors
High blood pressure, high blood cholesterol and smoking are the key risk factors for heart disease. CDC estimates that about half of people in the United States have at least one of these three.[1, 2]
Other conditions and behaviors also raise risk:[1, 2]
- Diabetes
- Overweight and obesity
- Unhealthy diet (high in saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol or salt)
- Physical inactivity
- Excessive alcohol use
Some risk factors cannot be changed, such as age and family history. Risk rises with age, and families share both genes and environments that can influence risk.[2]
Prevention and public health context
Many risk factors can be controlled. Blood pressure and cholesterol usually have no symptoms, so measuring them is the only way to know whether they are high. Lifestyle changes or medicines can lower both.[2]
For people recovering from a heart attack, heart failure or some heart surgeries, cardiac rehabilitation is a supervised program that combines physical activity, education about healthy eating, taking medicines as prescribed, help quitting smoking and counselling for stress and mental health.[1]
NHLBI notes that for most people coronary heart disease is preventable with a heart-healthy lifestyle and medicines.[4]
Texas data context
MedEquity maps three CDC PLACES measures related to cardiovascular disease: coronary heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure among adults. Each is a model-based estimate of the share of adults who report that a doctor, nurse or other health professional has told them they have (or had) the condition — it is not a count of heart attacks or deaths.[6]
CDC advises that PLACES estimates should not be used to track change over time, and that comparisons between counties should take confidence intervals and differences in age structure into account.[7]
Related measures on the Explore map
- Coronary heart disease among adults (modeled estimate)
- Stroke among adults (modeled estimate)
- High blood pressure among adults (modeled estimate)
- Heart disease death rate, adults 35+ (age-standardized) (observed (vital records))
Advanced material (optional)
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, but its share of deaths differs between groups. CDC’s data show heart disease accounting for a smaller share of deaths among Hispanic people than among non-Hispanic Black or White people, and note that for several groups heart disease is second only to cancer as a cause of death. These are national figures, not Texas county values.[3]
MedEquity note: Mortality statistics (how many people die of a condition) and prevalence statistics (how many people live with it) answer different questions. A county can have a high prevalence of diagnosed heart disease and a comparatively low death rate, or the reverse, for reasons that include age structure, access to care and survival.
References
- About Heart Disease. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/heart-disease/about/index.html (accessed 2026-10-18).
- Heart Disease Risk Factors. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/heart-disease/risk-factors/index.html (accessed 2026-10-18).
- Heart Disease Facts. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/heart-disease/data-research/facts-stats/index.html (accessed 2026-10-18).
- Coronary Heart Disease — What Is Coronary Heart Disease?. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NIH). https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/coronary-heart-disease (accessed 2026-10-18).
- About Stroke. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/stroke/about/index.html (accessed 2026-10-18).
- PLACES Measure Definitions: Health Outcomes. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/places/measure-definitions/health-outcomes.html (accessed 2026-10-18).
- PLACES: Frequently Asked Questions. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/places/faqs/index.html (accessed 2026-10-18).
- Risk Factors for Stroke. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/stroke/risk-factors/index.html (accessed 2026-10-18).