cardiovascular
Meaning of cardiovascular: Pump and pipework are described as a single system because trouble in either one changes what reaches the tissues at the far end.
Definition of cardiovascular
Cardiovascular means relating to the heart and blood vessels together, the closed loop that carries blood, and with it oxygen and nutrients, to every tissue and returns it to be refreshed. The word covers the heart working as a pump and the arteries, veins and capillaries working as the pipework, along with the diseases and risk factors affecting both.
How does the circulation actually run?
Blood travels two circuits laid end to end, passing through the heart twice on each lap. The right side of the heart pushes blood to the lungs to collect oxygen and give up carbon dioxide, and it returns to the left side. The left side then drives it out to the rest of the body, and it comes back to the right. Arteries always carry blood away from the heart and veins always carry it back, which is a rule about direction rather than about oxygen. In the circuit to the lungs the arteries carry the oxygen poor blood and the veins carry the oxygen rich blood, the reverse of the familiar picture. Exchange itself happens only in the capillaries, whose walls are a single cell thick.
What counts as cardiovascular disease?
| Where the problem sits | Examples |
|---|---|
| Heart muscle and its supply | Coronary heart disease, heart attack, heart failure |
| Heart rhythm and valves | Atrial fibrillation, valve narrowing or leakage |
| Vessels to the brain | Stroke and narrowing of the neck arteries |
| Vessels to the limbs and trunk | Peripheral arterial disease, aortic aneurysm, deep vein clots |
Plaque building in artery walls underlies a large share of this list but not all of it. Rhythm disturbances, inherited heart muscle disease and valve problems arise by other routes entirely, which is why the umbrella term says where a problem is rather than how it came about.
How does it sit alongside neighboring terms?
Cardiac refers to the heart alone, so a finding in a leg vein is cardiovascular but not cardiac. Cardiovascular risk factors, including high blood pressure, raised cholesterol, tobacco use, diabetes and inactivity, are grouped under the wider word precisely because they act on vessels everywhere, not on the heart alone. Assessment usually pairs the circulation with the respiratory system, since breathlessness can come from either and the heart and lungs share the single job of getting oxygen to tissue.
Used in a sentence
The physical examination included a full cardiovascular assessment of heart sounds, pulses, and blood pressure.
Good to know
Cardiovascular covers the heart and blood vessels together, while cardiac refers to the heart alone, a distinction that matters when a finding involves the vessels rather than the heart muscle itself.
Word origin
Where “cardiovascular” comes from
Formed from cardio-, from Greek kardia, meaning heart, and vascular, from Latin vasculum, meaning small vessel.