We often get asked questions that use the above acronyms.  I have always struggled to understand the differences between them, this page is as much educational for me as for others suffering confusion!

CHD - Coronary Heart Disease

CVD - Cardiovascular Disease or is it Cerebrovascular Disorders?

IHD - Ischaemic Heart Disease

CAD - Coronary Artery Disease

CHD. According to wikipedia (click here) this is the same as CAD and IHD and is:

"....is the end result of the accumulation of atheromatous plaques within the walls of the arteries that supply the myocardium (the muscle of the heart) with oxygen and nutrients"

It later reports:

"Typically, coronary artery disease occurs when part of the smooth, elastic lining inside a coronary artery (the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle) develops atherosclerosis. With atherosclerosis, the artery's lining becomes hardened, stiffened, and swollen with all sorts of "grunge" - including calcium deposits, fatty deposits, and abnormal inflammatory cells - to form a plaque. Plaques can be thought of as large "pimples" that protrude into the channel of an artery, causing a partial obstruction to blood flow. Patients with coronary artery disease might have just one or two plaques, or might have dozens distributed throughout their coronary arteries."

eMedicine have a similar definition (click here):

"Disease develops when a combination of fatty material, calcium, and scar tissue (plaque) builds up in the arteries that supply the heart with blood. Through these arteries, called the coronary arteries, the heart muscle (myocardium) gets the oxygen and other nutrients it needs to pump blood."

Cerebrovascular Disorders. According to wikipedia (click here):

"Cerebrovascular disease is a group of brain dysfunctions related to disease of blood vessels supplying the brain."

Cardiovascular disease. According to wikipedia (click here):

"Cardiovascular disease refers to the class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels (arteries and veins). While the term technically refers to any disease that affects the cardiovascular system, it is usually used to refer to those related to atherosclerosis (arterial disease)."

So, what I think can be inferred is that Cardiovascular Disease relates to conditons associated with any part of the vascular system.  Coronary Heart Disease relates more specifically to the heart, while Cerebrovascular Disorders relates to the blood vessels associated with the brain.

Two other important concepts are Ischemia and Atherosclerosis:

Ischemia: Ischemia is an absolute or relative shortage of the blood supply to an organ. Relative shortage means the mismatch of blood supply (oxygen delivery) and blood request for adequate oxygenation of tissue. Ischemia can also be described as an inadequate flow of blood to a part of the body, caused by constriction or blockage of the blood vessels supplying it. Ischemia of heart muscle produces angina pectoris.  Since oxygen is mainly bound to hemoglobin in red blood cells, insufficient blood supply causes tissue to become hypoxic, or, if no oxygen is supplied at all, anoxic. This can cause necrosis (i.e. cell death) (source: wikipedia).

Atherosclerosis: Atherosclerosis is a disease affecting arterial blood vessels. It is a chronic inflammatory response in the walls of arteries, in large part due to the accumulation of macrophage white blood cells and promoted by low density (especially small particle) lipoproteins (plasma proteins that carry cholesterol and triglycerides) without adequate removal of fats and cholesterol from the macrophages by functional high density lipoproteins. It is commonly referred to as a "hardening" or "furring" of the arteries. It is caused by the formation of multiple plaques within the arteries.  Below is a thumbnail of classification of atherosclerosis (to see full image click here)

 For further information view the following resources:

• Coronary heart disease (wikipedia)
• Cerebrovascular disease (wikipedia)
• Cardiovascular disease (wikipedia)
•  Ischemia (wikipedia)
• Atherosclerosis (wikipedia)