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ABOUT CARDIOVASCULAR 

DISEASE

• Cardiovascular disease is the numberone killer of Americans, and is the 

leading cause of hospitalization in the 

VA health care system. It is also a major 

cause of disability. 

• Cardiovascular disease is particularly 

important to Veterans because it is 

associated with a number of other 

diseases that often affect them. These 

include diabetes, spinal cord injuries, and 

posttraumatic stress disorder. 

• Although there are many different forms 

of cardiovascular disease, one of the 

most common forms is a narrowing or a 

blocking of the blood vessels that supply 

blood to the heart. This is called coronary 

artery disease (CAD), and is the main 

reason people have heart attacks.

VA RESEARCH ON 

C ARDIOVASCUL AR DISEASE: 

OVERVIEW

• A VA study conducted in the 1960s 

generated the first definitive evidence that 

treating moderate high blood pressure 

helps prevent and delay the complications 

hypertension can bring. These 

complications can include heart disease, 

kidney disease, stroke, and CAD. 

• VA researchers are developing new 

treatments for cardiovascular disease and 

helping to improve existing treatments. 

They are looking at the genetic and 

lifestyle causes of the disease and 

are conducting studies ranging from 

lab experiments to large clinical trials 

involving thousands of patients.

• VA is also making Veterans and their 

families aware of the risk factors for 

cardiovascular disease. Besides high 

blood pressure, these include smoking, 

high cholesterol, obesity, lack of physical 

activity, and uncontrolled diabetes. 

• The department offers a number of 

evidence-based programs to help Veterans 

manage these conditions. VA researchers 

review these programs, evaluate their 

effectiveness, and make suggestions for 

improvements.

SELECTED MILESTONES AND 

MA JOR EVENTS 

1960 – Successfully implanted the first 

cardiac pacemaker, a device developed by 

a VA team

1970 – Published the results of a landmark 

VA cooperative study on hypertension, 

showing that treating moderate high 

blood pressure prevented or delayed 

catastrophic health complications

1996 – Developed clinical practice 

guidelines on cholesterol screening for the 

American College of Physicians

2007 – Learned that balloon angioplasty 

and stenting do little to improve outcomes 

for patients with stable coronary artery 

disease who also receive optimal drug 

therapy and undergo lifestyle changes

2015 – Participated in the Systolic Blood 

Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) trial, 

which found that significantly lowered 

systolic blood pressure reduces the rate of 

heart and kidney diseases, stroke, and agerelated declines in people over 65

RECENT STUDIES: SELECTED 

HIGHLIGHTS

• Patients who were assigned to reach 

a systolic blood pressure goal below 

120, far lower than current guidelines of 

140 (or 150 for people over 60), had their 

risks of heart attacks, heart failure, and 

strokes reduced by a third, and their risk 

of death reduced by a quarter, according 

VA research on 

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE

Cardiovascular disease refers to conditions that affect 

the heart or blood vessels. It describes conditions 

ranging from peripheral artery disease and high 

blood pressure to heart attacks and strokes. 

(Continued on back)

Photo: Terry Vine/Getty Images
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Cardiovascular disease is the number-one 

killer of Americans, and is the leading cause 

of hospitalization in the VA health care 

system. It is also a major cause of disability.

to a study led in part by a researcher 

from the Memphis VA Medical Center. 

(New England Journal of Medicine, Nov. 

28, 2015) 

• Older men treated within the 

VA health care system for acute 

myocardial infarctions (heart 

attacks) are less likely to die within 

30 days after the event than Medicare 

beneficiaries treated at other hospitals, 

although they are more likely to require 

readmission during the same time 

period. Mortality rates and readmission 

rates were higher at VA hospitals, 

however, for pneumonia. (Journal of the 

American Medical Association,

Feb. 9, 2016)

• Veterans with posttraumatic stress 

disorder (PTSD) are more likely to 

have reduced blood flow to the 

heart, or ischemia. After statistical 

adjustments for factors known to 

influence heart disease, PTSD was 

associated with more than double the 

risk for ischemia—and the more severe 

the PTSD symptoms were, the greater 

the risk. (Biological Psychiatry,

Dec. 1, 2013)

• Women Veterans who underwent 

cardiac catheterization tended to be 

younger and more obese than men, 

and were more likely to have PTSD or 

depression. They were also significantly 

less likely to have obstructive coronary 

disease, and consequently were less 

likely to have been prescribed heart 

medications. However, their long-term 

health outcomes were about the same 

as those of their male counterparts, 

according to researchers with VA 

and the University of California, San 

Francisco. (Circulation: Cardiovascular 

Quality and Outcomes, March 2015)

• Intensive glucose control in 

patients whose type 2 diabetes had 

previously been poorly controlled 

had no significant effect on the 

rates of major cardiovascular events 

such as coronary artery disease and 

stroke, compared with those who were 

treated with standard glucose-control 

measures. This 2009 finding by the VA 

Diabetes Trial was followed up on in 

2015 with a finding that patients who 

had been in the study’s intensivecontrol group had a lower incidence of 

cardiovascular events after the trial was 

over, but their survival rates were no 

better than those who were not in that 

group. (New England Journal of Medicine, 

June 4, 2015; earlier study in New 

England Journal of Medicine, Jan. 8, 2009)

• Serious hypoglycemia may be 

associated with the progression 

of atherosclerosis, according 

to VA Diabetes Trial researchers. 

Atherosclerosis is a common form 

of arteriosclerosis in which fatty 

substances form a deposit of plaque on 

the inner lining of arterial walls. This can 

restrict blood flow, and the plaques can 

burst, triggering a blood clot. (Diabetes 

Care, Mar. 2016)

For more information on VA studies 

on cardiovascular disease and other 

key topics relating to Veterans’ 

health, please visit 

www.research.va.gov/topics

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE

Updated September 2016 • For a digital version of this fact sheet with active links to sources, visit www.research.va.gov/topics