GoodRx Guide
Heart Disease
Basics
Cardiovascular disease is a common diagnosis that includes conditions affecting the heart and blood vessels. Almost half of all adults in the U.S. live with some form of cardiovascular disease.
Heart disease is one type of cardiovascular disease, and it's the leading cause of death in the U.S. But most people don’t realize how big of an impact this has. To put it in perspective, heart disease causes 1 in every 5 deaths in the U.S. (that’s 695,000 deaths in total).
The term “heart disease” often refers to coronary heart disease or coronary artery disease. But it can also include the wide range of conditions that affect the heart, from problems with how the heart beats (arrhythmias) to diseases of the heart muscle, valves, and blood vessels.
Causes
The most common type of heart disease is coronary heart disease, or coronary artery disease. It is responsible for conditions like:
Coronary heart disease is caused by atherosclerosis. When you have atherosclerosis, a fatty plaque builds up within your arteries — the blood vessels that take blood throughout the body.
Over time, atherosclerosis makes the arteries narrower and stiffer, often causing high blood pressure. The rough surface of the fatty plaque can also break off and cause blood vessel blockages downstream.
Atherosclerosis can happen to arteries anywhere in the body. When it happens to arteries in the neck and brain, it can cause strokes. Atherosclerosis in the arms and legs causes peripheral artery disease. And when the arteries that supply the heart (coronary arteries) narrow and stiffen, it causes angina and heart attacks.
Sometimes, people are born with heart conditions (congenital heart disease), and sometimes heart disease can’t be avoided (such as with infections that cause heart disease).
Risk factors
More commonly, there are medical conditions or life triggers that increase risk for heart disease. Examples include:
Smoking cigarettes
Diabetes (prediabetes, Type 2 diabetes, or Type 1 diabetes)
Overweight and obesity
A diet that is high in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt, and sugar
Low levels of physical activity
Regularly drinking more alcohol than is recommended
But that’s not all — other factors play a part too, including your:
Symptoms
Symptoms of heart disease are different for each person and for every diagnosis. But common symptoms of heart disease include:
Chest tightness
Chest pain
Difficulty breathing
Palpitations
Fatigue
Leg swelling
Passing out
Related Health Conditions
Prevention
Many types of heart disease — and their risk factors — are silent early on. That’s why it’s so important to learn about heart disease, your own personal risk, and how to balance that risk. Prevention will often include lifestyle changes such as:
Keeping any alcohol use to moderate intake
Eating a well-balanced diet
Heart disease prevention may also include treatments to manage underlying conditions that may increase your risk of heart disease, like:
Diabetes medications, including GLP-1 agonists like Ozempic that can lead to weight loss
References
American Heart Association. (2020). What is atherosclerosis?
American Heart Association. (2024). More than half of U.S. adults don’t know heart disease is leading cause of death, despite 100-year reign.
Benjamin, E. J., et al. (2019). Heart disease and stroke statistics—2019 update: A report from the American Heart Association. Circulation.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023). About heart disease.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023). Heart disease facts.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023). Know your risk for heart disease.
