Abstract
Increased carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) in young and middle-aged adult cohorts has been followed and associated with the progression of childhood and cardiovascular disease since the early 1970s. The conventional treatment of CIMT elevated above 70% is surgical intervention (carotid endarterectomy or stenting). This article reviews 23 randomized controlled trials to assess the effects of nonsurgical therapies including vitamins (folate and colestipol-niacin) and statins on the reduction of CIMT. All the large-sized folate trials, the colestipol-niacin and statin trials (rosuvastatin, lovastatin, levothyroxine, irbesartan, probucol, fosinopril, and pioglitazone), showed significant reductions in CIMT. These results may have profound implications for healthcare, and additional studies on healthy individuals are needed.