Cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. Cardiovascular disease includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, cardiomyopathy, heart arrhythmia, congenital heart disease, valvular heart disease, carditis, aortic aneurysms, peripheral artery disease, thromboembolic disease, and venous thrombosis. The underlying mechanisms vary depending on the disease. Coronary artery disease, stroke, and peripheral artery disease involve atherosclerosis. This may be caused by high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, lack of exercise, obesity,
American College of Cardiology qualifications. The ACC also produces the "Journal of the American College of Cardiology", ranked number one among cardiovascular journals worldwide for its scientific impact. In 1949, 13 cardiologists, led by Franz Groedel, MD, MACC and Bruno Kisch, MD, MACC, founded the American College of Cardiology during what is often called "The Golden Age of Cardiology." In his book "American Cardiology: The History of a Specialty and Its College," Bruce Fye, MD, MACC, details how in the period following World War II, factors like the increasing prevalence of heart disease, the advent of federal research funding, breakthroughs in technological innovations, and