Heart disease

What is heart disease?

Heart problems are a major cause of premature death.

When talking about heart conditions, doctors use the terms coronary heart disease (CHD) and the broader cardiovascular disease (CVD).

• CHD is used for any condition that affects heart function.
• CVD refers to both coronary heart disease and diseases of the circulation, such as stroke, when a clot blocks blood supply to the brain. Stroke is the country's third biggest killer, claiming 70,000 lives each year.

Most doctors now prefer to use the term CVD because it's the major cause of premature death in the UK, causing around 32 per cent of premature deaths in men and 28 per cent in women.
One person in Britain dies from heart disease every three minutes – making us one of the world’s worst countries for this problem.