Diet and drug therapy: A dynamic duo for reducing coronary heart disease risk

Abstract

A large proportion of the United States population requires aggressive low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol- lowering therapy to meet the new treatment guidelines established by the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III. This has further widened the gap between the number of people being treated compared with those who should be treated. Moreover, many people being treated do not meet their LDL cholesterol goal. Diet and healthy lifestyle practices remain the cornerstone of treatment to lower LDL cholesterol. Pharmacologic therapy has assumed an increasingly important role in reaching LDL cholesterol goals. Diet and healthy-lifestyle interventions have been shown to augment the benefits of cholesterol-lowering drugs. Together, this dynamic duo provides the most effective clinical means identified to date for maximally lowering LDL cholesterol levels.

Self‐Reported Adherence to Nonpharmacological Treatment and Association with Mortality over 6 Years: Population‐Based Study in Older Persons with Hypercholesterolemia

“…18 Another study concluded that dietary intervention in primary prevention achieved modest improvements in the diet and in cardiovascular risk profile, 19 and a third study found that a healthy diet and lifestyle increased the benefit of lipid-lowering drugs and that the two therapies combined achieved the best results in reducing cholesterol and cardiovascular risk. 20 Thus, guidelines on prevention of cardiovascular disease 2,21,22 include these measures as the first step in reducing cholesterolemia as a complement to pharmacological treatment.…”

Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease : Plea for a Rationale Use of Diet and Lipid-Lowering Drugs

“…Despite several controversies, lowering low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol is still the emphasis of the prevention of coronary heart disease (CHD) (1,2). To achieve the LDL cholesterol-treatment goals, both diet and drugs, essentially statins, are at the forefront of intervention strategies (3).…”

“…This constellation of benefits provides a powerful approach for reducing risk of CHD, even in individuals with only modest elevations of total and LDL cholesterol levels, as pointed out by the recent results of the Heart Protection Study (7). Because of their cost effectiveness, high compliance rate, and safety when used appropriately, statins should be considered as the drugs of choice to treat hypercholesterolaemia in highrisk CVD-prone patients (1)(2)(3)(4)(5).…”