PROPHYLACTIC (PREVENTIVE) PHARMACOLOGY IN CARDIOLOGY - MODERN STATE

For population and physicians it is not always clear which of the drug s permitted for human use and available in drug stores are most effect ive and safe for prevention of development of diseases. Knowledge in t his area is vitally important as correct use of drugs could promote pr olongation of life span while keeping quality of life and working capa city of population on sufficiently high level. For solution of this pr oblems located at the junction of clinical medicine, clinical pharmaco logy and epidemiology (including preventive studies) a novel branch of scientific medicine - preventive pharmacology - has arisen. In method ological respect preventive pharmacological investigations are disting uished by the following features. They should necessarily be strictly controlled comparative studies often conducted as multicenter long-ter m trials on population groups with increased risk of morbidity and mor tality. Modern sophisticated statistical methods of analysis are emplo yed for examination of their results. Meta-analyses of several multice ntral controlled trials of same drugs or of representatives of a same drug group completed during recent years yielded unexpected results an d gave rise to new conclusions based on these results. The new conclus ions concern usefulness and safety of some drugs and uselessness and e ven inherent deleterious action of other previously popular agents. Al l this has great value for the practice of medicine. Generalized data are presented including new results of international and domestic prev entive pharmacological studies in cardiology testing potentials of hyp olipidemic, antihypertensive and antianginal drugs. Prophylactic pharm acological studies allow to objectively evaluate in a new way the pers pectives of already known and widely used cardiological drugs in prima ry and especially in secondary prevention of cardio-vascular diseases.