Managing Cardiovascular Risk Factors without Medications: What is the Evidence?

Managing Cardiovascular Risk Factors without Medications: What is the Evidence? Cardiovasc Hematol Agents Med Chem. 2020 May 17;: Authors: Saha SP, Banks MA, Whayne TF Abstract In this era of potent medications and interventional cardiovascular (CV) procedures, the importance of beginning with and including therapeutic lifestyle change (TLC) is frequently forgotten. A major goal of this review article is to show and emphasize that modification of CV risk with nonmedication approaches makes an essential contribution to CV risk reduction. Available information on TLC and modifiable CV risk factors was reviewed and assessed. Modifiable major CV risk factors include diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, tobacco abuse, obesity, stress, and sedentary lifestyle. Age as a major CV risk factor is, of course, not susceptible to modification. A contribution to the control of CV risk factors can occur without the start of medications and there is proof of benefit for beginning with a nonpharmacological approach. TLC can benefit all of the major modifiable CV risk factors and there is good evidence for the additional benefit of supervised and group TLC. TLC includes physical activity, diet, and smoking cessation. Evidence for the benefit of TLC in reducing CV disease events is well established. However, medications must be added in those patients with higher CV risk to obtain maximum cholesterol reduction (lower is better for the low-d...
Source: Cardiovascular and Hematological Agents in Medicinal Chemistry - Category: Cardiology Tags: Cardiovasc Hematol Agents Med Chem Source Type: research