Classification of Cardiovascular Diseases: Epidemiology, Diagnosis, and Treatment

Abstract

This chapter reviews the main cardiovascular diseases (CVD) that are common in clinical practice and have received substantial attention from researchers in behavioral medicine and related disciplines. A concise overview is provided for hypertension, ischemic heart disease, cardiomyopathies, heart failure, cardiac arrhythmias, and stroke. For each CVD, we present information about disease characteristics, epidemiology, diagnostic tools, disease mechanisms, and treatment options. This chapter concludes with a general discussion of how these CVD features are relevant to research in cardiovascular behavioral medicine.