Prevención de la cardiopatía isquémica, un desafío de la atención primaria de salud

Background: ischemic cardiopathy is a disease affecting the coronary blood vessels and provoking ischemia and myocardial infarct. In 2013 it was the first cause of death in the world, inCuba and in theprovince ofMatanzas. It is considered a health problem; that is why the authors proposed to review theoretical referents of ischemic cardiopathy. Material and methods: we made a search in the Biblioteca Virtual de Salud (Health Virtual Library in English) of Infomed. We reviewed 483 titles without limits of year and country of publication, choosing 40 scientific works. Development: atherosclerosis, as a main cause of ischemic cardiopathy, has multifactorial origins and it is susceptible of worsening due to the life style of the persons. The most important factors contributing to its appearance are smoking, type II diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia, sedentary life style, obesity, among others. One or more of these factors could be present in the same individual, so the risk is stratified. It is the so called global cardiovascular risk, estimated through different charts. Vascular age is currently used to assess that risk. Conclusions: preventing cardiovascular risk factors is a challenge for the primary health care, because it is at this health care level where the educative work, health promotion and disease prevention are carried out among the population. These factors detention and control is still an essential preventive strategy.