The general class of diseases affecting the heart and blood vessels, including coronary artery disease, stroke, hypertensive heart disease and heart failure, together the leading cause of death worldwide according to the World Health Organization. Ancient physicians described symptoms now attributed to cardiovascular disease, including chest pain and sudden death, without understanding the underlying circulatory mechanism. The English physician William Harvey's 1628 De Motu Cordis first correctly described the heart as a pump driving a closed, continuous circulation of blood through the body, the foundation of modern understanding of the cardiovascular system and, in time, of the diseases that affect it.
Facts
Condition Classchronic, non-communicable 4 First DescribedMarks Harvey's discovery of blood circulation itself, the mechanism underlying the cardiovascular system, rather than the first clinical description of a specific cardiovascular disease, which predates precise understanding of that mechanism. First Described (Era)Symptoms consistent with cardiovascular disease, including angina-like chest pain, are described in the Egyptian Ebers Papyrus, circa 1550 BCE. 5 PrevalenceCardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally, taking an estimated 17.9 million lives each year, according to World Health Organization data. 6 Classification
ICD-10 ChapterXVIII: Symptoms, Signs and Abnormal Clinical and Laboratory Findings, Not Elsewhere Classified 2 Communicable or Non-communicable Transmission Route Causative Agent
Causative Agent (category)Idiopathic / Multifactorial 3 Connections
Associated With
Source A History of MedicineLois N. Magner
Cardiac MRI images heart muscle and blood flow without the ionizing radiation of a CT angiogram, and is used to assess damage after a heart attack and to diagnose structural heart disease.
Treated By
Source Aspirin (Wikipedia)
Source Atorvastatin (Wikipedia)
Bloodletting, Treatments Why this is corrected. Under humoral theory, bloodletting was used against apoplexy (stroke) and against plethora, a supposed excess of blood believed to cause hypertension-like symptoms. The practice offered no benefit against the underlying vascular disease and could worsen outcomes through blood loss and hypotension.
Source The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of HumanityRoy Porter
Source Digoxin (Wikipedia)
Source Furosemide (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: Statin
Sources
1. Wikipedia
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia Foundationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiovascular_disease, lead sectionQuote, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiovascular_disease, lead section
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs include coronary artery diseases, heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia, congenital heart disease, valvular heart di
2. Wikipedia: ICD-10
WikipediaList of chapters, Chapter XVIIIQuote, List of chapters, Chapter XVIII
Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified
3. Wikipedia: Cardiovascular disease
Wikipedia- intro para 2
Lead section, disease-category statement
angina, heart attack), heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia, congenital heart disease, valvular heart disease, carditis, aortic aneurysms, peripheral artery disease, thromboembolic disease, and venous thrombosis.
Lead section, transmission-route statement
angina, heart attack), heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia, congenital heart disease, valvular heart disease, carditis, aortic aneurysms, peripheral artery disease, thromboembolic disease, and venous thrombosis.
View the Source 4. Encyclopaedia Britannica
5. The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity
Roy Porter, W. W. Norton and Company, 1997
6. World Health Organization Fact Sheets
A History of Medicine
Lois N. Magner, CRC PressAssociated With: Discovery of the Circulation of the Blood
Wikipedia: Statin
Aspirin (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationTreated By: Aspirin, Lead sectionQuote, Treated By: Aspirin, Lead section
used to reduce pain, fever, and inflammation, and as an antithrombotic
Atorvastatin (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationTreated By: Atorvastatin, Lead sectionQuote, Treated By: Atorvastatin, Lead section
used to prevent cardiovascular disease in those at high risk
Digoxin (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationTreated By: Digoxin, Lead sectionQuote, Treated By: Digoxin, Lead section
used to treat various heart conditions
Furosemide (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationTreated By: Furosemide, Lead sectionQuote, Treated By: Furosemide, Lead section
used to treat edema due to heart failure
Frequently Asked Questions
Which diseases does cardiovascular disease include?
Coronary artery disease, stroke, hypertensive heart disease and heart failure.
It is the general class of diseases affecting the heart and blood vessels, including coronary artery disease, stroke, hypertensive heart disease and heart failure.
Whose work underlies modern understanding of the cardiovascular system?
William Harvey's 1628 De Motu Cordis.
William Harvey's 1628 De Motu Cordis first correctly described the heart as a pump driving a closed, continuous circulation of blood, the foundation of modern understanding of the cardiovascular system.
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