JBS 2: Joint British Societies' guidelines on prevention of cardiovascular disease in clinical practice

The aim of these new Joint British Societies' guidelines (JBS 2) developed by the British Cardiac Society, British Hypertension Society, Diabetes UK, HEART UK, Primary Care Cardiovascular Society, and The Stroke Association is to promote a consistent multidisciplinary approach to the management of people with established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) and those at high risk of developing symptomatic atherosclerotic disease. We recommend that CVD prevention in clinical practice should focus equally on (i) people with established atherosclerotic CVD, (ii) people with diabetes, and (iii) apparently healthy individuals at high risk (CVD risk of >= 20% over 10 years) of developing symptomatic atherosclerotic disease. This is because they are all people at high risk of CVD. The object of CVD prevention in these high risk people is the same-namely, to reduce the risk of a non-fatal or fatal atherosclerotic cardiovascular event and to improve both quality and length of life. This can be achieved through lifestyle and risk factor interventions and appropriate drug therapies to lower blood pressure, modify lipids, and reduce glycaemia. We have set targets (see below) for lifestyle, blood pressure, lipids, and glucose for these high risk people. Cardiovascular protective drug therapies have specific clinical indications. For all high risk people a number of drugs from different classes will reduce the risk of recurrent disease and increase life expectancy: antithrombotic, blood pressure, lipid, and glucose lowering therapies.