Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for an estimated 17.9 million deaths a year according to the World Health Organization. In the UK, around 7.6 million people are living with a heart or circulatory condition. This article explains what CVD actually is, what drives it, and what reduces your risk.
What is cardiovascular disease?
CVD is an umbrella term for conditions affecting the heart and blood vessels. The main types include:
- Coronary heart disease — narrowing of the arteries supplying the heart, causing angina and heart attacks
- Stroke and transient ischaemic attack (TIA) — interrupted blood supply to the brain
- Peripheral arterial disease — narrowed arteries restricting blood flow to the limbs
- Aortic disease — including aortic aneurysm
- Heart failure and arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation
The common thread: atherosclerosis
Most types of CVD share one underlying process. Over years, fatty deposits build up within artery walls, causing them to narrow and stiffen — atherosclerosis. This restricts blood flow. If a deposit (atheroma) ruptures, a clot can form and abruptly cut off the oxygen supply to whatever lies downstream, whether that is heart muscle or brain tissue.
Risk factors
There is no single cause, but the contributing factors are well established.
Modifiable
- High blood pressure — the most significant single risk factor. Persistent high pressure hardens and damages artery walls.
- Smoking — harmful substances in tobacco directly damage blood vessel linings.
- High cholesterol and triglycerides — accelerate fatty deposit formation.
- Diabetes and pre-diabetes — raised blood glucose damages vessels over time.
- Physical inactivity — linked to higher blood pressure, weight and cholesterol.
- Excess weight, particularly around the abdomen.
- Excessive alcohol and poor diet.
- Chronic stress and poor sleep, including untreated sleep apnoea.
Non-modifiable
- Age, sex and family history
- Ethnicity — people of South Asian and African-Caribbean heritage face higher risk in the UK
- Inherited conditions such as familial hypercholesterolaemia
You cannot change the second group, but knowing where you sit tells you how firmly to manage the first.
Reducing your risk
- Stop smoking — the highest-impact single change available
- Move regularly — 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity weekly, plus strength work twice a week
- Eat well — plenty of vegetables, fruit, wholegrains, pulses, nuts and oily fish; less saturated fat, salt (under 6 g daily) and refined sugar
- Limit alcohol — within 14 units a week
- Know your numbers — blood pressure, cholesterol and HbA1c are silent until they aren't
- Attend your NHS Health Check if you are aged 40–74
Some people also need medication — statins to lower cholesterol, antihypertensives for blood pressure, or anticoagulants where clot risk is raised. These decisions belong with your prescribing clinician.
The genetic dimension
The British Heart Foundation estimates that over 620,000 people in the UK carry a faulty gene that raises their risk of developing cardiovascular disease — and most do not know it. Familial hypercholesterolaemia alone affects around 1 in 250 people and remains largely undiagnosed.
Understanding inherited susceptibility allows earlier intervention, which is where genetic testing and personalised medicine are genuinely useful — not as a replacement for managing the modifiable risks, but as a way of knowing how urgently to manage them.
When to seek urgent help
Call 999 for chest pain or pressure lasting more than 15 minutes, especially with breathlessness, sweating or pain spreading to the arm or jaw — or for sudden face drooping, arm weakness or slurred speech, which indicate a stroke.
Assessing your risk with Rightangled
Our home blood tests cover cholesterol, lipids and HbA1c, and our DNA tests assess inherited cardiovascular risk. All results are reviewed by our clinical team, which includes GPhC-registered independent prescribers, with medical oversight from our doctor, Dr Abdullah.
Verify us with the General Pharmaceutical Council (registration 9011933), see our LegitScript certification, and read reviews on Trustpilot.
Related reading: what causes heart disease and basic heart health.
This article is for general information and does not replace personalised medical advice.
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