# heart disease

CEFR B1 · Compound

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/heart-disease
Updated: 2026-04-24

## Definition

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

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

## Examples

- Eating healthy food helps prevent heart disease.
- The doctor warned him that his high blood pressure could eventually lead to heart disease.
- Recent longitudinal studies suggest that sedentary lifestyles are a primary contributing factor to the early onset of chronic heart disease in urban populations.

## Pitfalls

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

## Usage notes

- 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'.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.