Promoting cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health.

Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases combined are the leading killers worldwide today. Mortality related to chronic atherothrombotic disease is projected to grow disproportionately, with the focus being in lowand middleincome countries. In the developed world, although we have gained successes with regard to reduction in mortality attributable to a mix of preventive and treatment strategies, we have largely shifted the curve of the disease to the right, turning these conditions into chronic morbidities. In turn, this has reflected in the 368 billion dollars spent by the United States for these illnesses, a 3-fold increase in the span of a decade1 (Figure 1). In this article, we discuss some of the emerging mechanisms that simultaneously affect the atherosclerotic process in the cardiac and cerebrovascular regions and touch on management issues relevant to the clinician and population health researcher.