Abstract
Several individual pharmacologic agents such as antiplatelet drugs, beta-blockers, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and lipid lowering agents have proven efficacy in reducing mortality in patients with vascular diseases. We review the efficacy of combination evidence-based medical therapies in patients with vascular diseases and demonstrate that secondary prevention therapies used in combination are associated with significantly improved survival. Such therapies, most of which are generic and inexpensive today, appear to offer a marked survival advantage in patients with cardiovascular diseases.
Keywords: cardiovascular disease, pharmacological therapies, acute coronary syndromes, heart protection study, anglo-scandinavian cardiac outcomes trial, beta-blocker, diuretic, ace inhibitor
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