An Interactive Guide to Cardiovascular Health
The human heart is the engine of life. This guide explores its function, common health challenges, and the powerful steps you can take to protect it.
Understanding the Heart
Click on the labels to explore the heart's chambers, valves, and the path blood takes on its life-sustaining journey.
Select a part of the heart.
The heart is a four-chambered muscular pump that circulates blood throughout the body, delivering oxygen and nutrients while removing waste.
Major Cardiovascular Conditions
Cardiovascular disease is a broad term for conditions affecting the heart and blood vessels. Explore some of the most common types below.
Understanding Your Risk
Many factors influence heart health. While some risks like age and genetics are fixed, many others are modifiable through lifestyle choices.
Relative Impact of Modifiable Risk Factors
Non-Modifiable Risks
Age, sex, and family history form a baseline risk that cannot be changed but underscore the importance of managing what you can control.
Modifiable Risks
Smoking, an unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and chronic stress are major factors you can influence to protect your heart.
The Heart's Systemic Connections
The heart doesn't work in isolation. Its health is deeply connected to other vital organs. Click on an organ to see how it relates to cardiovascular health.
The Body is a Network
Click a connected organ to learn about its specific relationship with the heart, revealing how cardiovascular health impacts the entire body.