Synergy of Portfolio Diet Components and Drugs in Coronary Heart Disease

This chapter focuses on the potential for complementary or synergistic effects of drugs and food components in the portfolio diet especially in relation to Coronary heart disease (CHD) risk reduction and diabetes, including glycemic control and insulin resistance. However the US Food and Drug health claims for dietary components that may reduce the risk of CHD are new. In situations where there are abnormalities in the ABC G5 or G8 genes, there may be increased sterol absorption; in the rare homozygotes, there is severe CHD with tendonous xanthomata and plaque formation in the coronary arteries. The interest in the role of inflammatory processes in CHD will continue with the focus on the biomarker C-reactive protein. Raised blood pressure is a major risk factor for both stroke and CHD. Drug combination therapy is routinely practiced, effective, and recommended to achieve blood pressure control.