You know how important your heart is, so it's no wonder people worry when they hear someone has heart problems. Heart disease, also called cardiovascular disease, mainly affects older people and means that there are problems with the heart and blood vessels. You might know someone who has cardiovascular disease because 61 million Americans have some form of it. This disease includes a variety of problems, including high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, hardening of the arteries, chest pain, heart attacks, and strokes. What Is Heart Disease? The heart is the center of the cardiovascular system. Through the body's blood vessels, the heart pumps blood to all of the body's cells. The blood carries oxygen, which the cells need. Cardiovascular disease is a group of problems that occur when the heart and blood vessels aren't working the way they should.

Here are some of the problems that go along with cardiovascular disease:

• Arteriosclerosis . Also called hardening of the arteries, arteriosclerosis means the arteries become thickened and are no longer as flexible.
• Atherosclerosis People with atherosclerosis have a buildup of cholesterol and fat that makes their arteries narrower so less blood can flow through. Those deposits are called plaque.
• Angina People with angina feel a pain in the chest that means the heart isn't getting enough blood.
• Heart attack. This is when a blood clot or other blockage cuts blood flow to a part of the heart.
• Stroke. when part of the brain doesn't get enough blood due to a clot or a burst blood vessel.

How Do You Get Heart Disease?

Heart disease is not contagious — you can't catch it like you can the flu or a cold. Instead, there are certain things that increase a person's chances of getting cardiovascular disease. Doctors call these things risk factors.

Some of these risk factors a person can't do anything about, like being older and having other people in the family who have had the same problems. But people do have control over some risk factors — smoking, having high blood pressure, being overweight, and not exercising can increase the risk of getting cardiovascular disease.

What Are the Signs of Heart Disease?

Many people do not realize they have cardiovascular disease until they have chest pain, a heart attack, or stroke. These kinds of problems often need immediate attention and the person may need to go to the emergency department of a hospital.

If it's not an emergency and a doctor suspects the person could have cardiovascular disease, the doctor can do some tests to find out more about how the heart and blood vessels are working. These tests include:

• Electrocardiogram This test records the heart's electrical activity. A doctor puts the patient on a monitor and watches the machine to see the heart beat and determine if it's normal.
• Echocardiogram This test uses sound waves to diagnose heart problems. These waves are bounced off the parts of the heart, creating a picture of the heart that is displayed on a monitor.
• Stress test. For this test, the person exercises while the doctor checks the electrocardiogram machine to see how the heart muscle reacts.
• Catheterization This test uses a long, thin tube that is inserted into the patient's body to inject a special dye. It can locate narrowed areas in arteries due to plaque buildup and find other problems.
• Carotid artery scan. This test uses sound waves to check for blockages in the carotid artery, a large blood vessel in the neck that supplies blood to the brain.

If the doctor finds that a patient has cardiovascular disease, he or she will talk with the patient about how stopping smoking, losing weight, eating a healthy diet, and getting exercise can help. The person also may need to take medicine, have surgery, or both.

Can Kids Get Heart Disease?

Kids usually don't have any symptoms of heart and blood vessel problems. But by starting heart-healthy habits right now, kids can reduce the chance they will ever need to worry about cardiovascular disease.

So what should you do? Don't smoke, for one. And be sure to eat healthy, exercise, and maintain a healthy weight. Your heart and blood vessels will thank you later!