Therapeutic Potential of Resveratrol for Cardiovascular Protection

Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) including stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide and an enormous economic burden to our societies. Based onthe latest statistics for heart and stroke disease released by the AmericanHeart Association in 2016, CVD is the leading global cause of death, accounting for more than 17.3 million deaths per year, a number that is expected to grow to more than 23.6 million by 2030. An estimated 83,600,000 adults in the United State (US) (>30%) have one or more types CVD of whom more than 90% have hypertension, 18% have Coronary Heart Disease (CHD), close to 10% have Myocardial Infarction (MI) and 8% have stroke. The total direct and indirect cost in the US alone for treatment of CVD (hospitalization, drugs, home healthcare, etc.) and loss of productivity and morbidity totalled more than $315 billion US per year. 

While there was a decline in cardiovascular mortality reported in the American Heart Association 2014 update, the disease burden to society remains high. Thus prevention by better diagnosis and treatment could provide a huge saving for the health care cost worldwide. Despite advancement in modern cardiovascular medicine, the prevalence of hypertension, Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD) and stroke is still on the rise, particularly in industrialized societies and in the elderly population, and finding an optimum drug therapy to slow disease progression remains a therapeutic challenge.(Read more)