you need building blocks for atheroclerosis to develop
your response is simple and complex at the same time. Yes lifestyle changes would be beneficial and may deter medications but compliance is the main issue. For instance, I just walked by the hospital 10 min ago, what did I see? A patient hooked up to a IV drip smoking a cig. I can guarantee you 100% that she was advised not to smoke. Did she listen, hell no. If you spend any amount of time in a clinic, you would understand this issue. We do advise lifestyle changes during appointment. A lot of times, patients can't afford treatment, so we offer what advice we can.
sometimes your daily activities make it complicated for you to make lifestyle changes. I go to school 8 hours a day, do lab work after, go to the library after, by the time I get home, it's about midnight or later. I know the importance of exercise and diet. Do I practice it, not really cause I'm so dam busy. My blood pressure is rising cause of stress. Non-drug therapy would be to eliminate stress. Can I eliminate it, hell no. I'm surrounded it.
Noncompliance is even riddled thru-out bodybuilding forums, even though forums consists of a skewed population. If this is a skewed population, how do you think the mean population will perform. And to take it even further, what about the people at the opposite end of the spectrum.
Not all doctors all are greedy pocket pinchers. You're not looking at the whole story.
One could probably think the same way about supplement companies. Why not just adjust diet and exercise to lose that extra 1-2% of body fat instead of using fat loss supplements. Why don't reps advise not to use their supps, instead focus more on tweaking diet and exercise and use that money towards buying a proper meal.