More accurate definition of secondary prevention in heart disease?

[Guest guest]

I am wondering exactly what is meant by " secondary prevention " in studies on

heart

disease. I am aware that in general this means " patients with pre-existing

heart disease " ,

but is that limited to people who have experienced a CVD-related event (i.e. MI

or stroke),

or does it include people that have tested positive for atherosclerosis using a

CMIT scan

or HeartScan?

I ask because my father recently had a CMIT that indicated he had

atherosclerosis

consistent with " that of an 80-year old man " (he is 65). He has never had a

heart attack or

stroke. The question I have is whether this would put him in the secondary

prevention

group.

The answer to this is significant because he is considering a statin, and while

statins have

not been shown to benefit primary prevention populations, they have been shown

to help

secondary prevention men.

I recommended he take CLO/butter oil, magnesium, CoQ10, Pomegranate juice

extract,

mixed tocopherols and vitamin C (for collagen synthesis). I also suggested

meditation for

stress reduction, which he has been doing, and he already exercises regularly.

However, his doctor is really leaning on him to take a statin and I think he's

also quite

scared, and is considering it himself. I sent him Colpo's book, which he has

read in its

entirety. There's a section on pp. 77-79 where Colpo lists all of the benefits

of statin

therapy, including a regression and in some cases reversal of atherosclerosis.

That caught

my dad's attention. He did go on to read about all of the adverse effects and

risks of

statins, but he's aware of the slight mortality benefit from statins for

secondary men and

so I think he's considering it strongly.

I worry about statin use for him because I know from my research that the

benefit from

statins is ambiguous in the elderly. Some studies suggest a benefit, but others

suggest

the opposite. What is unambiguous is that low cholesterol actually increases

the risk of

death in the elderly - and of course the statin is going to reduce his

cholesterol.

[Guest guest]

Anyone know the answer to this?