Simplifying the medical prevention of cardiovascular disease

• Autores: David Wald
• Localización: Medicine, ISSN-e 1357-3039, Vol. 42, Nº. 9, 2014, págs. 491-494
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • There is enormous potential to reduce deaths and disability from cardiovascular disease by widening the use and simplifying access to blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering preventive treatment. The main obstacles to realizing this potential are the complexity of multiple risk factor-based risk estimation, an excessively high risk cut-off for treatment and a focus on testing rather than prevention. A fresh approach to prevention is needed that replaces complex multiple risk factor-based assessments with a simple age cut-off as the means of selecting people for preventive drug treatment. This review examines the evidence for such an approach and its potential impact.