Advances in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease

Over the past thirty-five years, U.S. age-adjusted mortality from cardiovascular disease declined 50 percent. This marked reduction reflects advances in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of common cardiovascular conditions. Pharmaceutical agents play a major role in prevention of atherosclerosis and its consequences: heart attack, stroke, and heart failure. Additionally, novel device-based therapies contribute to the decline in cardiac morbidity and mortality. Whereas innovative strategies based on accurate imaging of the heart and blood vessels are implemented widely now, hope exists that lifestyle changes, early risk-factor screening, and more efficacious drugs will strikingly reduce cardiovascular disease in the future.