Angioplasty
Surgery whereby a balloon is inflated inside a blocked artery to open it up.
Albuminuria
A condition where too much protein (albumin) is secreted in the urine, usually an indication of kidney disease. When only tiny amounts of albumin are excreted this is called microalbuminuria.
Angina
Discomfort in the chest caused by an inadequate supply of blood to the heart muscles.
Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor
A type of drug used for blood pressure control and heart failure. Studies indicate that it may also help prevent or slow the progression of kidney disease in people with diabetes.
Artery
A vessel carrying blood from the heart to various parts of the body.
Atheroma
Fatty material that can build up within the walls of the arteries.
Atherosclerosis
Hardening and thickening of the walls of the arteries as a result of deposits of atheroma on their inner lining. This build-up of atheroma may slow down or stop blood flow.
Autonomic neuropathy
Disease of the nerves affecting mostly internal organs such as the bladder, the cardiovascular system, the digestive tract and the genital organs. These nerves are not under a person's conscious control and function automatically.
Beta blocker
Drugs that block the action of the hormone adrenaline that makes the heart beat faster and more vigorously, thereby relieving stress to the heart muscle. Beta blockers are often used to slow the heart rate, lower blood pressure, prevent angina attacks, prevent irregular heartbeats and reduce the risk of heart attacks in people who have already had one.
Beta cell
Beta cells are found in the Islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. They produce and release insulin.
Blood pressure
A measure of the force of the blood being pushed by your heart through your arteries. This pressure is created when your heart beats, forcing blood around the body and also by the elastic resistance of the arteries themselves. Blood pressure is written as two numbers. The higher number (systolic) shows the pressure created by the heart contracting or pumping out the blood. The lower number (diastolic) indicates the pressure when the heart is relaxing between beats. The pressure is measured on a blood pressure gauge in millimetres of mercury (mm Hg).
Blood vessel
An artery, vein or capillary.
Body mass index (BMI)
A key index for assessing body weight in relation to height. The BMI is a person's weight in kilograms (kg) divided by their height in meters (m) squared. In the West a person is considered overweight when his/her BMI is above 25, obese when it is above 30 and severely obese when it is above 35. In Asia the recently-recommended corresponding BMIs are 23, 25 and 30 respectively.
Bypass surgery
An operation whereby a blood vessel is taken from another part of the body and is used to redirect the flow of blood around a blocked or narrowed part of a heart vessel.
Calcium channel blocker
A drug used to treat angina and to lower blood pressure.
Capillary
Capillaries are the smallest of the blood vessels. They join the arteries to the small veins.
Cardiovascular disease
Cardiovascular diseases are defined as diseases and injuries of the circulatory system: the heart, the blood vessels of the heart, and the system of blood vessels throughout the body and to (and in) the brain. Stroke is the result of a blood flow problem within, or leading to, the brain and is considered a form of cardiovascular disease.
Carotid artery
The two carotid arteries are located on each side of the front of the neck. These arteries provide the principal blood supply from the heart to the head and neck.
Central obesity
An abnormal accumulation of fat around the abdomen which can be assessed by measuring the ratio of the waist to the hip circumference. This form of obesity is strongly associated with cardiovascular and diabetes risk. Also known as visceral or abdominal obesity.
Cerebrovascular disease
Damage to the blood vessels in the brain, which may result in a stroke.
Cholesterol
A waxy, fat-like substance used by the body to build cell walls. It is either produced in the liver or absorbed from the animal fats we eat. Cholesterol is carried in the blood stream by particles called lipoproteins. When total cholesterol is measured in the blood, it includes cholesterol carried by low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and high-density lipoproteins (HDL).
Circulatory system
The system composed of the heart and blood vessel tree.
Coronary artery
The coronary arteries are blood vessels that deliver oxygenated blood to the muscle of the heart.
Coronary artery disease
Coronary artery disease begins when atheroma is deposited within a coronary artery.
Coronary heart disease
Any disease of the heart caused by coronary artery disease, although it usually refers to heart attack and angina.
C-reactive protein
C-reactive protein is a protein whose plasma concentrations increase (or decrease) by 25% or more during inflammatory disorders.
Dementia
Significant loss of intellectual abilities such as memory and judgement, severe enough to interfere with social or occupational functioning.
Digitalis
A plant-based drug used to treat heart failure and certain abnormalities of the heart rhythm.
Diuretic
Diuretics increase the output of water and salt in the urine. They are used to treat heart failure and to lower blood pressure.
Diabetes mellitus
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic condition that arises when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin produced. This causes hyperglycaemia which seriously damages many of the body’s systems, especially the blood vessels and nerves. There are two main types of diabetes: type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes.
Dyslipidaemia
Abnormal levels of lipids (fats) in the blood.
Electrocardiogram (ECG)
A test using electrodes placed on the chest, arms and legs to record the rhythm and electrical activity of the heart.
Endothelium
The layer of flat cells that lines the cavities of the heart and of the blood and lymph vessels.
Exercise cardiac stress testing
The most widely used screening test for heart disease. The patient exercises on a treadmill, whose speed and elevation increases progressively. During this test the heart rate, heart rhythm, and blood pressure are monitored.
Femoral artery
The femoral artery provides the blood supply to the lower limbs.
Fibrate
Fibrates are cholesterol-lowering drugs that are primarily effective in lowering triglycerides and, to a lesser extent, in increasing high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels.
Foot ulcer
A break in the skin or a deep sore that can occur in people with diabetes because of nerve and/or vessel damage to the foot.
Gangrene
The death of body tissue due to the loss of blood supply to that tissue, sometimes permitting bacteria to invade it and accelerate its decay.
Gestational diabetes
A carbohydrate intolerance of varying degrees of severity with onset or first recognition during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes develops during some cases of pregnancy but usually disappears when pregnancy is over. However women who have had gestational diabetes are at a much greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes at a later stage in their lives.
Heart attack
Also called myocardial infarction; results from permanent damage to an area of the heart muscle. This happens when the blood supply to the area of the heart is interrupted because of narrowed or blocked blood vessels. In the majority of cases this is due to coronary artery disease.
Heart failure
Heart failure occurs when the heart muscles become overworked from the strain of pushing blood through narrow hard blood vessels.
Haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c)
Haemoglobin (Hb) is the protein in the red blood cells which carries oxygen to the cells. HbA1c corresponds to a small part of Hb (normally less than 6%) which joins with the glucose present in the blood. Because the glucose stays attached to it throughout the life of the red cell (about three months), a test to measure HbA1c reflects what the person's average blood glucose level was for that period of time.
High-density lipoprotein (HDL)
Cholesterol is carried in the blood stream by lipoproteins. The high-density lipoprotein (HDL) recovers cholesterol from cells, vessel walls and other lipoproteins and thus tends to prevent or reverse the build-up of plaque in the arteries. That is why HDL cholesterol is considered ‘good’ or ‘protective’.
Hyperglycaemia
A raised level of glucose in the blood.
Homocysteine
Researchers believe that homocysteine may contribute to the build-up of fatty substances in the arteries, increase the stickiness of blood platelets (clotting), and make blood vessels less flexible and less able to widen to permit increased blood flow.
Hypertension
Persistently elevated blood pressure.
Impaired fasting glycaemia (IFG)
Raised fasting levels of glucose.
Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT)
Blood glucose levels that are higher than normal but below the level of a person with diabetes.
Impotence
The loss of a man’s ability to have an erect penis, often referred to as erectile dysfunction.
Insulin
A hormone whose main action is to enable the body cells to absorb glucose from the blood and use it for energy. It also regulates lipid and protein metabolism. Insulin is produced by the beta cells in the pancreas.
Insulin resistance
A state in which a given level of insulin produces a less than expected biological effect.
Intermittent claudication
A cramp-like pain due to ischaemia mostly in the calf and leg muscles, brought on by walking and relieved by rest.