Holistic Heart Health: A Review of Traditional Cardioprotective Agents

The global rise of incidents related to cardiovascular disorders has increased considerably over the past few years claiming multiple lives.To add to these incidents, COVID-19 associated cardiovascular complications have worsened the outlook for numerous patients.Acute coronary syndrome and stroke were found to be the most common afflictions.Conventional treatment regimes have succeeded in management of most cases of cardiovascular disease but possess limitations such as increased risk of side effects, post-surgical complications and therapeutic failure in some cases.To obtain additional therapeutic benefit, drugs of natural origin that have been widely used as cardiotonics and cardioprotective agents can be introduced or supplemented with conventional medication and other treatment regimes.These drugs inherently possess various pharmacological activities such as antioxidant, anti-hyperlipidemic, antihypertensive and other complementary effects as well as direct action on cardiac tissue by virtue of which they can be employed to prevent, mitigate and protect against cardiovascular disorders.Additionally suitable lifestyle modifications can also go a long way in improving the outcome of heart disease.