EUROACTION: A European Society of Cardiology demonstration project in preventive cardiology.: A cluster randomised controlled trial of a multi-disciplinary preventive cardiology programme for coronary patients, asymptomatic high risk individuals and their families. Summary of design, methodology and outcomes

Abstract

There is substantial scientific evidence that professional lifestyle intervention on smoking, diet and physical activity, together with control of blood pressure, cholesterol and glycaemia, and selective use of prophylactic drug therapies (aspirin and other anti-platelet therapies, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors or A-II receptor blockers, lipid-lowering drugs and anticoagulants) can reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients with established coronary disease, and can also reduce the risk of developing atherosclerotic disease in high risk individuals. The joint European Societies guidelines on prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) define priorities for preventive cardiology in clinical practice 1. The first is patients with established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The second is high risk individuals from the general population with hypertension, dyslipidaemia, diabetes, or a combination of these and other risk factors which puts them at high multifactorial risk of developing CVD. The third is the families (first degree blood relatives) of both coronary patients and high-risk individuals.