Intensification of therapy for chronic coronary disease patients can potentially yield what benefit?

• A. 10% decreased risk of stroke
• B. 40% decreased risk of MI after 5 years
• C. 60% decreased risk of death
• D. No change in risk

Answer: (B)

Intensifying therapy in chronic CAD targets secondary prevention—more aggressive lipid lowering, blood pressure and diabetes control, optimized antiplatelet therapy, and lifestyle changes. These measures reduce plaque instability, inflammation, and thrombotic tendency, so the chance of a myocardial infarction drops over time. The most consistently observed benefit with such intensified care over about five years is roughly a forty percent reduction in MI risk. Other potential outcomes, like only small changes in stroke risk or death, are less reliably driven by this broad approach, and no-change scenarios are not supported by the evidence.