Despite significant progress, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), which is composed of coronary heart disease (CHD), cardiovascular (CV) death, myocardial infarction (MI), and stroke, remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the Western world. In 2010, it was estimated that 1 in every 6 deaths was from CHD. 1 In 2012, CHD was estimated to result in> 17.3 million deaths annually worldwide. 2 With attempts to prevent or reduce the onset of modifiable risk factors, the burden of ASCVD can be reduced, making it an attractive target for preventive measures. In the INTERHEART (A Study Of Risk Factors For First Myocardial Infarction In 52 Countries And Over 27 000 Subjects) study, for example, 9 modifiable risk factors—smoking, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension, abdominal obesity, stress, poor diet, physical inactivity, and excess alcohol consumption—were responsible for> 90% of the risk for a first MI. 3 Furthermore, because CV risk accrues slowly over time, every person can benefit from preventive interventions, whether primordial, primary, or secondary. Prevention has played a pivotal role in the reduction in ASCVD morbidity and mortality seen over the last 3 decades. 4 Nearly half (44%) of the decline in CHD deaths from 1980 to 2000 resulted from population-wide risk-factor reduction, with another half resulting from medical therapies targeting specific risk factors in patients with known or suspected atherosclerosis (47%). 5, 6 In contrast, only 5% of the reduction in CHD deaths was due to coronary revascularization for chronic stable angina. 6

In a busy clinical practice, incorporating the recommendations from lengthy guideline documents into every visit can be challenging and difficult to remember. We offer this simplified guide to assist clinician compliance with guideline-based care and to promote participation in the multiple preventive initiatives that exist, including the AHA 2020 goal, 7 the Million Hearts Initiative, 8 and the “25925” target, 9 each of which is aimed at preventing MIs and strokes and promoting CV health over the next decade and beyond. We present our recommendations in a simple, easy-to-remember “ABCDEF” format (Table 1) that integrates the most recent CV guideline