Is atherosclerotic vascular disease caused by hypertension?

my father recently passed of a heart attack. I just got the death certificate and it said hypertension which i know is high blood pressure and "atherosclerotic vascular disease" which I believe is hardening of the heart arteries. I assume the two are related diseases, in that one caused the other? anyone have any info? and can AVD be caused by inhaling harmful chemicals? like fumes on a job site or something?

Atherosclerosis and hypertension are directly related as are kidney disease and retinal disease . In general diet and hypertension team up to cause the hardening ,the HBP by injuring the inside of the ateries and the fat compounds by depositing at the site of the injuries in thick cheesy linings w.hich calcify and restrict blood flow to the heart .
Enviromental air pollution could cause lung ,liver kidney ,dermatological problems but not atherosclerosis

Atherosclerotic vascular disease refers to the narrowing and hardening of the arteries in the body. This process occurs naturally, to some degree, through aging.

Atherosclerosis leads to these disease complications:

1. Heart attack (coronary artery disease)
2. Stroke (vessel narrowing in the carotid arteries)
3. Peripheral vascular disease (narrowing of blood vessels to the lower extremities)
4. High blood pressure (promotes generalized atherosclerosis)
5. Kidney disease (vessel disease within the kidneys)
6. Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (due to high blood pressure)
7. Ischemic Bowel disease

Risk factors are:

1. Diabetes
2. Smoking
3. Hypertension
4. High blood cholesterol

I feel sorry for u're loss.....
hypertension is a risk factor for the formation of the atherosclerotic plaque...cuz high blood pressure damages the cellular lining of the vesseles (endothelium) on which the "fatty streaks" develope..which would progress into the atherosclerotic plaque...

Hypertension can certainly contribute to atherosclerosis (which is often referred to as hardening of the arteries, it involves a buildup of cholesterol in the coronary arteries causing them to narrow), but there are many other factors as well such as cholesterol level, smoking history, genetics, and simple age. I don't know of any relation between enviornmental exposures (other than smoking) and atherosclerotic heart disease.
Now, that having been said, depending on who actually filled out the death certificate, it's probably best just to ignore it, those things are worthless. They are often filled out by a doctor who doesn't know the patient well who is making his best guess as to what may have caused the death, but doesn't know. Also, there are often other pressures, the cause of death must be accepted by the medical examiner, which is sometimes difficult (there are centain things that cannot be written, even if they're true) so often atherosclerotic heart disease is written when the doctor can't figure anything else, regardless of whether or not it reflects reality.