The great success that medicine is achieving today in some fields stems from the huge amount of evidence produced by scientists. Their discoveries are translated into new therapeutic strategies as well as clinical recommendations. These, in turn, are (or should be) applied at the individual or population level to protect and improve our health.

A key step of this fruitful process is Prevention: especially in the field of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) a clinical condition that, at the time of its first appearance - as a stroke, aortic aneurism or peripheral arterial disease - can be markedly invalidating and even fatal.

But what is prevention? and how many forms of Prevention can we carry out?
Scientists recognize a first line of intervention, or Primary Prevention, and a second line of intervention .

Primary Prevention

Primary prevention consists in a number of measures that each individual can put into effect to avoid the onset and development of a disease. In the case of CVD a major step consists in lowering the number of risk factors or, at least, in containing their harmful effects. The earlier we take action the better the results: with low levels of risk factors it is likely to have . That's why scientists recommend to begin the risk factors assessment at age 20.

Secondary Prevention

Secondary Prevention is clinician's responsibility. Doctors and health care operators have to spot and treat asymptomatic persons who have already developed risk factors or preclinical disease, but in whom the disease is not clinically apparent.