Skip to content Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is when the heart
and blood vessels that carry blood around the body are damaged.
The blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the cells and removes
carbon dioxide and other waste that is produced by cells. The
heart pumps blood around the body, and blood is carried back to
the heart via the lungs. In this way, a healthy cardiovascular
system makes sure that oxygen and nutrients find their way to
each part of the human body. Because the cardiovascular system
is a complex system reaching all parts of the body, there are a
number of cardiovascular diseases, including coronary heart
disease, stroke, hypertension and rheumatic heart disease.
People get CVD because they have one or more risk factors. Not
everyone who has risk factors will get CVD, but most people with
CVD have several risk factors. There are risk factors that can
be changed and those that cannot (see lists below). And there
are contributing factors, such as poverty, which can be changed,
but not easily. Ri