A new officially recognized role for nutraceuticals in the management of dyslipidemias for cardiovascular disease prevention and patient rehabilitation

Abstract

Despite the widespread use of nutraceuticals, physicians generally have had a low opinion of these products and have been sceptical about their benefits. However, attitudes are now changing. The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the European Atherosclerosis Society (EAS) have issued new guidelines for cardiovascular disease prevention and patient rehabilitation [1], which for the first time state that some nutraceuticals can be used to obtain cardiovascular benefits: ‘nutraceuticals can be used either as alternatives or in addition to lipid-lowering drugs’. Such a statement would have been unthinkable a few years ago.