Cardiovasculars

Cardiovasculars, though not a standard medical term, broadly describe the cardiovascular or circulatory system, comprising the heart, blood vessels, and the blood that flows through them. This system distributes oxygen and nutrients, removes carbon dioxide and waste, regulates temperature, and supports immune and hormonal functions.

Anatomy includes the heart, a muscular pump with four chambers (right and left atria; right and left ventricles) and valves that direct blood flow. Blood travels through arteries, veins, and capillaries in two main circuits: pulmonary circulation, delivering blood to the lungs for gas exchange, and systemic circulation, supplying body tissues. The coronary arteries nourish the heart muscle itself.

Physiology: The heart's pumping action is coordinated by electrical impulses that generate the cardiac cycle—systole (contraction) and diastole (relaxation). Blood pressure reflects cardiac output and vascular tone. The autonomic nervous system and circulating hormones regulate heart rate and vessel diameter.

Conditions affecting the cardiovascular system include coronary artery disease, heart failure, arrhythmias, hypertension, stroke, and peripheral artery disease. Risk factors include age, smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, inactivity, and family history. Prevention emphasizes lifestyle modification and risk factor management.

Diagnosis relies on electrocardiography, echocardiography, imaging, stress testing, and laboratory tests. Treatments vary by condition and may involve medications (statins, antihypertensives, antiplatelets, antiarrhythmics), lifestyle changes, and procedures such as angioplasty, stenting, or bypass surgery. Terminology commonly uses cardiovascular system or cardiovascular diseases rather than cardiovasculars.