Cardiovascular diseases account for 17.3 million deaths per year worldwide and this number is estimated to double in the next 15 years (WHO, 2013). It is now known that there is a strong relationship between cardiovascular diseases and genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors. When these factors coexist with risk factors for these diseases, the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) increases exponentially (Castro, Vidigal, Franceschini, Priore, & Pelúzio, 2004). The main risk factors associated with these diseases are hypertension, high total cholesterol, reduced HDL cholesterol, smoking, Diabetes Mellitus type 2, and age (Cardiologia, 2017).
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