Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 9, Issue 29, 2003

Available data indicate that blood pressure (BP) is reduced below 140-90 mmHg in less than 30% of hypertensive patients. This poor control of BP derives from lack of diagnosis (unawareness of hypertension), lack of treatment of aware hypertensive patients and lack of efficacy of treatment. Systolic BP (SBP) is now considered as the most important parameter for diagnosis and stadiation of hypertension, above all in elderly p Read More

Endothelium-derived NO is not only a potent vasodilator but also inhibits platelet aggregation, vascular smooth muscle cell migration and proliferation, monocyte adhesion and adhesion molecule expression, thus protecting the vessel wall against the development of atherosclerosis. Cardiovascular risk factors are associated with an imbalance of the redox equilibrium towards oxidative stress and, therefore, impair th Read More

Direct visualization of the composition of the atherosclerotic plaque during its natural history and after therapeutic intervention may be helpful in detecting lesions with high risk of acute events and in understanding progression and regression of the disease. A wide variety of invasive and non-invasive imaging techniques is available to detect clue aspects of atherosclerosis from the early stage to the clinical evidence appearan Read More

Among the major Coronary Risk Factors (CRF) cigarette smoking has shown undoubtedly harmful effects on the heart and blood vessels either as active smoking (smoking a cigarette) or passive smoking (exposure to environmental tobacco smoke -ETS). The strong relationship between cigarette smoking and cardiovascular disease has been seen independent of the other CRF in a number of well-designated epidemiologi Read More

There is growing evidence that the components of the haemostatic system play a significant role in the development and progression of atherosclerosis and its complications. Lipidlowering interventions have been associated with a significant reduction of morbidity and mortality. However, the improvement in cardiovascular risk seen in several clinical trials is incompletely explained by cholesterol reduction. Theref Read More

There is extensive trial-based evidence showing that antihypertensive drugs reduce the risk of vascular events (e.g. stroke and myocardial infarction) as well as target organ damage (e.g. left ventricular hypertrophy and microalbuminuria). However, some of these benefits appear to be, at least partially, independent of the extent of blood pressure (BP) lowering. It is also evident that in certain clinical situations some antih Read More

Coronary disease is currently a major cause of disability and mortality in older populations. Due to several factors - including increased noncardiovascular mortality, atypical presentation of coronary events, selective survival, and, possibly, clustering of protective genetic traits - the relative risk associated with almost all risk factors decreases with advancing age. Nonetheless, all available evidences from both observ Read More