New drugs fight heart disease, but regular exercise and not smoking remain best defence

New medical treatments can help to manage heart disease, but the best defence is still healthy living, doctors say.

Prof Jeremy Pearson, associate medical director of the British Heart Foundation, said to cut their risk of coronary arterial disease, people should stop smoking, exercise regularly, eat better and maintain a healthy weight.

“They can get levels of modifiable risk factors [cholesterol, blood pressure, markers for diabetes] checked regularly and use medicines to reduce these if risk is significant and lifestyle changes cannot reduce risk,” Prof Pearson said.

New, more effective medical treatments that could cut death rates from the disease are being developed.

Among the key ones are more powerful drugs called PCSK9s, which reduce fatty substances called lipids in the blood.

These drugs can significantly reduce the risk in vulnerable people where statins, which reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood, are insufficient.

The finding in the recent UAE and Saudi Arabian study that unemployed people are more likely to develop the disease has been seen in other research.

Peter Whincup, a professor of cardiovascular epidemiology at St George’s, University of London, said that although it was widely identified the link was “not fully understood”.

“Part of it is explained by the fact that people who are unemployed tend to have a less favourable diet,” Prof Whincup said.

“They have a higher risk, often, of cigarette smoking. That we know directly influences heart disease. Part of it has remained unexplained.”