Atherosclerosis, vascular aging and therapeutic strategies

With the arrival of the era of global population aging, we strive for healthy aging and a healthy senior life rather than simple prolongation of the physical age. For the past 50 years, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) have been the most common cause of death among the elderly people globally. In China, there has been an exponential increase in the incidence of heart disease and stroke in the elderly population. Atherosclerosis is the pathological change in the coronary artery disease, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease. Despite the significant benefit demonstrated, control of classic risk factors alone, such as lifestyle change or drug therapy, was shown to have limitations in reducing the incidence of cardiovascular events. Vascular aging has been shown to be an important independent predictor of CVD events. Interventions targeting vascular aging have emerged as a new paradigm in conjunction with control of risk factors for the prevention of CVD. Vascular aging and atherosclerosis are two distinct pathological changes and difficult to distinguish clinically. Recent research with Chinese medicine (CM) has shown encouraging observations, linking the clinical benefit of delaying vascular aging and treating atherosclerosis. These results demonstrate great potential of CM in the prevention and treatment of CVD.