Non-pharmaceutical Approaches To The Prevention and Treatment of Heart Disease: A Review Of Current Literature

Heart disease continues to afflict tens of millions of people in the United States despite the advent of new drug therapies that have been developed over the past several decades. With the cost of health care spiraling out of control and the direct and indirect costs of cardiovascular disease (CVD) alone totaling 393 billion dollars, it appears that the standard medical approach to this disease has been inadequate to date. Even though the two leading human behaviors leading to deaths, tobacco use and diet/lifestyle factors, are directly related to heart disease, little attention is typically paid to these factors. Thus, there is an opportunity to reduce the impact of heart disease with dietary, nutritional and lifestyle interventions. The goal of this paper is to explore current literature and give additional treatment options.