**7. Treatment strategies**

Several treatment strategies currently exist to control and/or minimize symptoms associated with CVD. First, often the most prudent forms of CVD therapy involve lifestyle modifications, and many of these are based on known risk factors for CVD. Specific lifestyle choices may already be in place in certain individuals in preventive/prophylactic measures and some of them may not be relevant to every CVD patient. Nonetheless, several examples of lifestyle modifications in either preventive fashion or following CVD diagnosis include appropriate weight control (keeping within the recommended BMI limits), particularly for increased waistlevel fat or central fat (i.e., midline adiposity), appropriate control of diabetes and hypertension (if previously diagnosed), smoking cessation, low to moderate consumption of alcohol, an active lifestyle complete with regular moderate aerobic exercise, adequate and fitful sleep, and proper and well-balanced diet and nutrition [16]. In conjunction with these healthy lifestyle choices, the next line of defense against CVD often involves pharmacotherapy, also either already in place via prophylaxis (such as one-a-day baby aspirin, multivitamins including folate and B-complex) or prescribed against a form of CVD. Common pharmacotherapeutic strategies include antihypertension medication (beta-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers, diuretics), anticholesterol medications (statins), calcium signaling blockers, and agents to maintain proper insulin/glucose balance for diabetic patients. Antiplatelet therapies are also commonly prescribed for CVD patients. Following or concomitant with appropriate drug therapies can be surgical interventions to alleviate the problem. This can be of a variety of interventions including coronary artery or peripheral artery bypass grafting, transluminal angioplasty, and/or stent placement and deployment, depending on the nature of the complication. With many of these interventions, unfortunately, iatrogenesis or adverse side effects often occur, and the ensuing results can be even more significant than the original disorder.
