ENGLISH
REFERENCE

heart disease

compound.
B1 Intermediate Oxford

compound. a medical condition where your heart does not work correctly, often because the blood vessels are blocked.

compound. a broad category of medical conditions affecting the structure or function of the heart, most commonly referring to coronary artery disease.


SIMPLE

Eating healthy food helps prevent heart disease.

CONTEXTUAL

The doctor warned him that his high blood pressure could eventually lead to heart disease.

COMPLEX

Recent longitudinal studies suggest that sedentary lifestyles are a primary contributing factor to the early onset of chronic heart disease in urban populations.

Usage

This is an uncountable noun when used generally, but can be countable when referring to specific types of the condition.

Teaching tip

this is a transparent compound noun; help students by grouping it with other 'organ + disease' or 'organ + failure' collocations like 'kidney failure' or 'liver disease'.

Pitfall

He has a heart's disease.He has heart disease.the first noun acts as an adjective; do not use a possessive 's' in this compound.

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