The causes cardiovascular disease be a combination of things. The main causes are poor diet, lack of physical exercise, smoking, and drinking. A portion of people that have the disease were born with it because of genetics. About 40,000 babies that are born each year are born with the disease already. This is called Congenital Heart Defect or CHD. The rest of the people who have drink, smoke, have poor diet, etc. Its best to always eat healthy and exercise to avoid this disease.A lot of people don't realize that this is a life threatening disease and if not treated right away it could lead to a heart attack.