Book excerpt: Preventive cardiology is a fast moving field that places emphasis on the prevention and treatment of coronary disease. Preventive Cardiology: Insights Into the Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease, Second Edition is intended for clinical cardio- gists, internists, primary care providers, and allied health care professionals who wish to extend their knowledge and expertise in the rapidly expanding field of preventive car- ology. It is the mission of this book to provide clinicians with the understanding and tools necessary to implement prevention in their daily practices. Recent changes in the delivery of health care in the United States and abroad, in conjunction with new scientific evidence supporting the role of preventive strategies in the maintenance of cardiovascular health, have focused new attention and efforts on the field of cardiovascular disease prevention. The field of cardiology is thus making a gradual transition from the technology-driven, intervention-oriented perspective of the last several decades to a new, preventive, molecular-based perspective. As fresh evidence amasses that preventive measures produce a considerable decrease in the incidence of both primary and secondary cardiac events and mortality, there is growing, widespread acknowledgment that health care providers from all arenas must initiate preventive str- egies in the management and care of their patients.