Heart protection: controlling risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of illness and death in the United States. Clinical data continue to support primary prevention through the aggressive treatment of well-defined cardiovascular risk factors. Three risk factors that can be modified to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and death are hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and cigarette smoking. Even patients with asymptomatic cardiovascular disease have been shown to benefit from aggressive cholesterol-lowering therapy. New JNC-VI guidelines for managing hypertensive disease recommend that treatment decisions be based on level of blood pressure plus presence or absence of target organ damage or other risk factors. The risk of myocardial infarction in former smokers approaches that of nonsmokers after 3 years.
Pennington
J C
JC
Division of Cardiology, Allegheny University Hospitals, Philadelphia, USA.
Tecce
M A
MA
Segal
B L
BL
D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking