Introduction:
We have observed a phenomenal decline in coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence and mortality. This is based on solid research, i.e. identifying risk factors and identifying very effective therapies.

Lipid lowering therapy in populations would reduce CHD substantially but economically this would be unjustified.

Over the recent years, we have major advances in preventive cardiology:
- Non-invasive imaging of atherosclerosis in populations. Soon we will probably know the characteristics of plaque in vivo in populations
- Better understanding of lipoprotein and lipid metabolism: characteristics of lipoproteins related to the disease
- Better understanding of factors related thrombosis and clotting
- Growing understanding of acute precipitation of heart attacks