Cardiovascular Disease (also called Circulatory Disease).
CVD is a common condition caused by atherosclerosis (furring or stiffening of the walls of arteries). Although CVD may manifest itself differently in individual patients, CVD in practice represents a single family of diseases and conditions linked by common risk factors and the direct effect they have on CVD mortality and morbidity. These include coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, peripheral arterial disease and vascular dementia. Many people who have one CVD condition commonly suffer from another and yet opportunities to identify and manage these are often missed. CVD affects the lives of millions of people and is one of the largest causes of death and disability in England. Significant improvements have been made in the prevention and treatment of CVD in the past ten to fifteen years following the publication of the National Service Frameworks for coronary heart disease, diabetes and renal services.