Prevention is better than cure: the new ESC Guidelines

Download the Issue @ a Glance podcast Subscribe to the EHJ Podcast ![Graphic][1] ‘Prevention is better than cure’—this proverb is particularly true in cardiovascular medicine. Indeed, both lifestyle and dietary interventions, specifically the Mediterranean diet, as well as pharmacological modulation risk factors are effective preventive measures. On 12 June 1957, the US Surgeon General Leroy E. Burney declared that the evidence suggested a causal link between smoking and lung cancer and heart disease. Ever since then, smoking cessation has became a cornerstone of prevention.1,2 Later, blood pressure lowering was shown to reduce stroke, infarction, and premature death.3 A major breakthrough was the introduction of statins to lower LDL-cholesterol and proving their effectiveness in the 4S trial.4 The most recent introduction of PCSK9 (proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9) inhibitors may make prevention even more effective,5,6 although the indication for the use of these drugs is still a matter of debate as the evidence is still incomplete and their price is still rather high.7 Thus, it was timely to update the ‘ European Guidelines on cardiovascular disease prevention in clinical practice ’.8 The authors remind us that cardiovascular prevention is defined as a co-ordinated … [1]: /embed/inline-graphic-1.gif