How to Prevent Coronary Heart Disease

No old motto better than "Prevention is better than cure". This goes for anyone, especially in people who have high risk factors.
Priority of prevention, performed mainly on:
a. Patients with CHD, peripheral arterial disease, and cerebrovascular atherosclerosis.
b. Patients without symptoms but considered high risk because of:

- Many risk factors and the magnitude of the 10-year risk ≥ 5% (or by more than 60 years of age) to have a fatal cardiovascular disease.
- The increase of one component of risk factors: cholesterol ≥ 8 mmol / l (320 mg / dl), low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol ≥ 6 mmol / l (240 mg / dl), BP ≥ 180/110 mmHg.
- Patients with diabetes type 2 and type 1 with microalbuminuria.
c. Close family, with:
- Patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease earlier
- Patients with high risk but without symptoms.
d. People who regularly perform a clinical examination.


1. Guidelines for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke
     It has been a lot of evidence that suggests that CHD can be prevented, and research for this continues. From the results of long-term prospective study, showed that people with low risk factors have a smaller risk for developing CHD and stroke.
    ACC / AHA recommends directions for prevention of cardiovascular disease risk factors determined from the existing
a. Risk factors:
 Search for risk factors -> Destination: adults know the extent and importance of risk factors checked routinely.
Recommendation: Examination of risk factors should begin at the age of 20 years. Family history of CHD should be routinely monitored. Smoking, diet, alcohol, physical activity should be evaluated regularly. Blood pressure, body mass index, waist circumference, should be examined interval of 2 years. Cholesterol checks and blood sugar levels must still be monitored as well.

b. Estimation of risk factors in general -> All adults over the age of 40 should know their risk factors for CHD disease. Objectives: reducing the risk factors as much as possible.
Recommendation: Every 5 years (or more if there are changes in risk factors), particularly those with ≥ 40 years of age or a person with more than 2 risk factors, should be able to identify the risk factors based on a count of 10-year risk factor. Risk factor is smoking seen in blood pressure, cholesterol checks, blood sugar levels, age, gender, and diabetes. Patients with diabetes or a 10-year risk> 20% is considered as CHD patients (CHD risk equivalent).


Intervention efforts by non-pharmacologic and various pharmacologic and clinical trials show a beneficial thing.
a. Smoking:
-> Stop total. Not exposed, the environment smokers.
b. Blood Pressure Control
-> Destinations TD <140/90 mm Hg; <130/80 in renal impairment or heart failure, or <130/80 mm Hg in diabetes.
c. Diet
-> Objective: Eat a healthy diet.
d. Giving Aspirin
-> Objective: Low-dose aspirin in patients with high cardiovascular risk (in particular patients with a 10-year risk of cardiovascular events ≥ 10%).
e. Lipid arrangements in the Body
-> Primary goal: LDL - C <160 mg / dl if ≤ 1 risk factor, LDL-C <130 mg / dl if they have ≥ 2 risk factors and CHD risk 20%, or LDL-C <100 mg / dl if ≥ 2 risk factors and 10% had CHD risk ≥ 20% or if the patient is also affected by diabetes.
-> Secondary Objectives (if LDL-C is a prime target): if triglycerides> 200 mg / dl, and then used non-HDL-C as the second goal; non HDL-C <190 mg / dl to ≤ 1 risk factor; non -HDL-C <160 mg / dl to ≤ 2 risk factors and CHD risk ≤ 10 years at 20%, non-HDL-C <130 mg / dl for diabetes or with ≥ 2 risk factors and risk of CHD 10 years> 20 %.
-> Target else therapy: triglycerides> 150 mg / dl; HDL-C <40mg/dl in men and <50 mg / dl in women.
f. Physical Activity
-> Objective: at least 30 minutes of physical activity or physical activity of moderate intensity every day within 1 week.
g. Weight regulation
-> Objective: Achieve danmempertahankan weight (BMI 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m2). When BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2, waist circumference ≤ 40 inches in men and ≤ 35 inches in women.
h. Management of Diabetes
-> Objective: fasting blood sugar levels (<110 mg / dl) and HbA1c (<7%).
i. Chronic Atrial Fibrillation
-> Objective: Achieving sinus rhythm or chronic atrial fibrillation if it appears, the anticoagulant
with INR 2.0 to 3.0 (target 2.5).


2. Secondary Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease
Secondary prevention in individuals suffering from CHD has been proven, is an attempt to prevent recurrent CHD was no longer
a. Smoke
-> Objective: Stop the total, are not exposed to environmental smoke
b. Blood Pressure Control
-> Objective: BP <140/90 mmHg or <130/80 mmHg in patients with diabetes or chronic kidney disease
c. Lipid Management
-> Goal: LDL-C <100 mg / dl If Triglserid ≥ 200 mg / dl, non-HDL-C should be <130 mg / dl
d. Physical activity
-> Objective: 30 minutes, 7 days a week (at least 5 days per week)
e. Weight regulation
-> Objective: BMI: 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m2. Waist circumference: men <40 inches, women <35 inches.
f. Management of Diabetes
-> Objective: HbA1c <7%
Antiplatelet drug use / Anticoagulants: Aspirin, clopidogrel, warfarin as indicated.
Use of Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System Blockers: replace with ARB if intolerant.
The use of Beta-Blockers: unless there are contraindications.
Influenza vaccination in patients with cardiovascular disorders.


Secondary prevention is very necessary to remember:
- Individuals who have ever been, or has been proven to suffer from coronary heart disease, heart disease tend to have longer, more likely than those who had never hurt the heart.
- The process of atherosclerosis is the underlying CHD, it can affect other organs of blood vessels in the brain that lead to cerebrovascular disease (stroke), the aorta or carotid arteries, peripheral arteries, etc.. Therefore, secondary prevention for CHD may also be the primary prevention of atherosclerotic disease to others.
Secondary prevention has not been fully received attention (underutilized) of medical practitioners, as reported by WHO in 2004, particularly in countries with per capita income, low and medium.