Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases and Ways of Improving Risk Assessment of Their Development in Clinical Practice

Introduction. Cardiovascular diseases are a global problem and one of the main causes of death worldwide. Aim. To highlight and analyze modern approaches to the use in routine practice of risk factors for the development of cardiovascular pathology, which is appropriate for further clinical decision-making based on a meta-analysis of literary sources, clinical guidelines and the results of multicenter studies. Materials and methods. The search and selection of publications, systematic reviews and current recommendations is carried out using PubMed and Google Scholar databases, their detailed analysis and description. Results and discussion. The article provides data on primary prevention, which includes assessment and implementation of measures to reduce the overall risk of developing cardiovascular diseases in patients. Methods for assessing individual total or relative risk (use of SCORE and SCORE 2 scales, various risk calculators, etc.) taking into account the level of cholesterol and its various fractions are given. The importance of taking into account additional independent risk factors for the development of cardiovascular diseases is also considered. The possibility of taking into account the level of lipoprotein (a), high-density lipoprotein, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein to improve the accuracy of predicting cardiovascular risk is discussed. Attention is paid to the possibility of using such "non-metabolic" factors as environmental pollution, psychosocial stress and stressful conditions, sleep disorders and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, family history and genetic factors to change the risk category. Conclusions. The results of the conducted analysis prove that the given methods and importance of detection of subclinical atherosclerosis especially in patients with low or medium (marginal) cardiovascular risk. The use of both primary and secondary risk factors may be appropriate to inform decisions about changes in the calculated risk of such patients, the use and effectiveness of specific cardiac treatments, and the implementation of preventive measures such as statin therapy.