The good news is that risk can be greatly reduced with a mix of lifestyle modifications and medical treatment. Most of us are aware that eating a lighter, more balanced diet, quitting tobacco and exercising regularly are enough to head off most cases of heart disease before they ever happen. For those who can afford it, better treatments and medicines are also increasingly effective in curbing the high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol levels that lead directly to cardiovascular disease. These advances are turning what was once an eventual death sentence into a manageable condition. But in much of Asia, the best that medical science has to offer is either unavailable or is too expensive for most people. That makes education and prevention programs all the more urgent. “Prevention can be done, it should be done, and this is the right moment to put every effort into it,” says Dr. T.F. Tse, a leading Hong Kong cardiologist. “Otherwise, the result would be unthinkable.”
