[Therapeutic non-compliance: a major problem in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases].

The prevention of cardiovascular diseases relies upon the correction of risk factors and, more particularly, the optimal management of various metabolic abnormalities such as obesity, dyslipidaemias, diabetes mellitus and arterial hypertension. Such an approach first requires the adherence to life-style habits (healthy diet, physical activity and no smoking) and, in case of failure, the use of lipid-lowering drugs, antidiabetic agents and/or antihypertensive medications. Sometimes, a monotherapy may be sufficient but, in most cases, a drug combination is mandatory because of the need to reach tight therapeutic targets and of the presence of a polypathology, especially within the frame of the metabolic syndrome. Unfortunately, all surveys indicate that therapeutic compliance to non-pharmacological advice and even to drug prescriptions is far from being excellent. Such a non-compliance limits the efficacy of the prevention strategies and contributes to markedly increase the cost of metabolic diseases and associated complications.