Medical treatment options depend on the type of clinical disease and how far it’s progressed.
If a person doesn’t have clinical disease yet, then the main medical treatments usually target the major risk factors of high cholesterol and high blood pressure using drugs like statins and antihypertensives as spelled out in major guidelines.[1]
Medical treatment is often added on top of lifestyle changes, since lifestyle plays a large role in atherosclerosis. The major lifestyle recommendations are discussed more fully below.
References
- ^Donna K Arnett, Roger S Blumenthal, Michelle A Albert, Andrew B Buroker, Zachary D Goldberger, Ellen J Hahn, Cheryl Dennison Himmelfarb, Amit Khera, Donald Lloyd-Jones, J William McEvoy, Erin D Michos, Michael D Miedema, Daniel Muñoz, Sidney C Smith Jr, Salim S Virani, Kim A Williams Sr, Joseph Yeboah, Boback Ziaeian2019 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice GuidelinesCirculation.(2019 Sep 10)