Physical activity in primary and secondary prevention - there is a treatment gap.

Abstract

The latest European Society of Cardiology guidelines on cardiovascular disease prevention in clinical practice reinforce the importance of changing behavioral risk factors, specifically smoking, an unhealthy diet, and a sedentary lifestyle [1]. Exercise training is a cornerstone in secondary prevention structured cardiac rehabilitation programs for cardiovascular disease and the Working Group on Cardiac Rehabilitation and Exercise Physiology of the European Society of Cardiology are to be congratulated on their position papers in this area. The position paper in this issue of the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation [page 319] adds to that record by providing an up-to-date summary of the relationships between physical activity and cardiovascular health in primary and secondary prevention. However, the recommendations simply reinforce the existence of a ‘treatment gap’, i.e., the differential between ‘best’ current evidence for effective interventions and the actual advice and care that people receive for physical activity and cardiovascular health in primary and secondary prevention.