Hart- en vaatziekten: grote problemen vragen om grote oplossingen

At the age of 45, the lifetime risk of developing cardiovascular disease has been shown to be 60% in men and 55% in women in an analysis which included over 900,000 individuals in 5 prospective cohort studies in the United States. Only 4% of the men and 8% of the women had an optimal risk profile. The benefits of being at low risk were great: 14 more healthy years in those without risk factors. Identifying middle-aged individuals at high risk will prevent only a minority of clinical events. There are two alternatives that can be considered; the first one being the ‘polypill’ approach in which multiple generic drugs are started by every individual at a certain age, e.g., 55 years. This could prove to be an affordable and effective approach for the entire population. Alternatively, fundamental changes in society aimed at improving lifestyle and dietary habits could be implemented.

Conflict of interest: none declared. Financial support: none declared.