What to know about cardiovascular disease The cardiovascular, or circulatory, system supplies the body with blood. It consists of the heart, arteries, veins, and capillaries. CVD is now the most common cause of death Trusted Source worldwide. However, there are many ways to reduce the risk of developing these conditions. There are also many treatment options available if do they occur. The treatment, symptoms, and prevention of the conditions that are part of CVD often overlap. In this article, we look at the different types of CVD, their symptoms and causes, and how to prevent and treat them. Types CVD comprises many different types of condition. Some of these might develop at the same time or lead to other conditions or diseases within the group. Diseases and conditions that affect the heart include: angina, a type of chest pain that occurs due to decreased blood flow into the heart arrhythmia, or an irregular heartbeat or heart rhythm congenital heart disease, in which a problem wi

  A US man has become the first person in the world to get a heart transplant from a genetically-modified pig. David Bennett, 57, is doing well three days after the experimental seven-hour procedure in Baltimore, doctors say. The transplant was considered the last hope of saving Mr Bennett's life, though it is not yet clear what his long-term chances of survival are. "It was either die or do this transplant," Mr Bennett explained a day before the surgery. "I know it's a shot in the dark, but it's my last choice," he said. Doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center were granted a special dispensation by the US medical regulator to carry out the procedure, on the basis that Mr Bennett - who has terminal heart disease - would otherwise have died. He had been deemed ineligible for a human transplant, a decision that is often taken by doctors when the patient is in very poor health. The pig used in the transplant had been genetically modified to kno