Cardiovascular diseaseCardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs include coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina, heart attack), heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, valvular heart disease (e.g. rheumatic heart disease), cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia, congenital heart disease, carditis, aortic aneurysms, peripheral artery disease, thromboembolic disease, and venous thrombosis. The underlying mechanisms vary depending on the disease.
Preventive healthcarePreventive healthcare or prophylaxis is the application of healthcare measures to prevent diseases. Disease and disability are affected by environmental factors, genetic predisposition, disease agents, and lifestyle choices, and are dynamic processes that begin before individuals realize they are affected. Disease prevention relies on anticipatory actions that can be categorized as primal, primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention.
CholesterolCholesterol is the principal sterol of all animals, distributed in body tissues, especially the brain and spinal cord, and in animal fats and oils. Cholesterol is biosynthesized by all animal cells and is an essential structural and signaling component of animal cell membranes. In vertebrates, hepatic cells typically produce the greatest amounts of it. In the brain, astrocytes produce cholesterol and transport it to neurons.
Myocardial infarctionInterruption of cardiac blood supplyMedical conditionA myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops in one of the arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is retrosternal chest pain or discomfort that classically radiates to the left shoulder, arm, or jaw. The pain may occasionally feel like heartburn. This is the dangerous type of acute coronary syndrome.Lipid hypothesisThe lipid hypothesis (also known as the cholesterol hypothesis) is a medical theory postulating a link between blood cholesterol levels and the occurrence of cardiovascular disease. A summary from 1976 described it as: "measures used to lower the plasma lipids in patients with hyperlipidemia will lead to reductions in new events of coronary heart disease". It states, more concisely, that "decreasing blood cholesterol [...] significantly reduces coronary heart disease".
AtherosclerosisAtherosclerosis is a pattern of the disease arteriosclerosis, characterized by the development of atheromatous plaques in the walls of arteries. This is a chronic inflammatory disease involving many different cell types and is driven by elevated blood levels of cholesterol, primarily LDL. These lesions lead to narrowing of the arteries. At the onset, there are usually no symptoms, but if they develop, symptoms generally begin around middle age.Lipid-lowering agentLipid-lowering agents, also sometimes referred to as hypolipidemic agents, cholesterol-lowering drugs, or antihyperlipidemic agents are a diverse group of pharmaceuticals that are used to lower the level of lipids and lipoproteins, such as cholesterol, in the blood (hyperlipidemia). The American Heart Association recommends the descriptor 'lipid lowering agent' be used for this class of drugs rather than the term 'hypolipidemic'.
Coronary artery diseaseCoronary artery disease (CAD), also called coronary heart disease (CHD), or ischemic heart disease (IHD), is a type of heart disease involving the reduction of blood flow to the cardiac muscle due to the presence of atheromatous plaques in the arteries of the heart. It is the most common of the cardiovascular diseases. CAD can cause stable angina, unstable angina, myocardial ischemia, and myocardial infarction.Apolipoprotein B
Low-density lipoproteinLow-density lipoprotein (LDL) is one of the five major groups of lipoprotein that transport all fat molecules around the body in extracellular water. These groups, from least dense to most dense, are chylomicrons (aka ULDL by the overall density naming convention), very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), intermediate-density lipoprotein (IDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL). LDL delivers fat molecules to cells.
Drug classA drug class is a group of medications and other compounds that share similar chemical structures, act through the same mechanism of action (i.e., binding to the same biological target), have similar modes of action, and/or are used to treat similar diseases. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration has long worked to classify and license new medications.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.