Primary prevention of stroke: blood pressure, lipids, and heart failure

Stroke contributes significantly to morbidity, mortality, and disability worldwide. Despite the successes accomplished in the acute treatment and rehabilitation of stroke, the global burden of this disease can only be tackled with co-ordinated approaches for primary prevention. Stroke is a heterogeneous disease and the contribution of individual risk factors to its occurrence estimated by population attributable risk differs from coronary heart disease. Here, we review evidence to demonstrate the prominent role of elevated blood pressure (BP) and heart disease on risk of stroke, while the influence of lipids on stroke is less clear; we also demonstrate that stroke is an important complication of heart failure. Current approaches to primary preventive action emphasize the need to target the absolute risk of cardiovascular diseases rather than individual risk factors. Lifestyle interventions serve as a basis for primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases. It is estimated that 70% of strokes are potentially preventable by lifestyle modification but prospective evidence is needed to support these hypotheses derived from epidemiological studies. Different strategies for drug interventions in primary prevention are discussed, including the polypill strategy. Additional measures are needed for the primary prevention of stroke which focus on BP, chronic heart failure, and possibly lipids.