Emerging Cardiovascular Risk Factors
Okay…the research has been out for many years. Long enough for medical journals to be writing summaries. So why are they not becoming the standard of care? Currently, if someone is at risk for heart disease (strong family history, sedentary, overweight) all that is typically run is a lipids panel (cholesterol, triglycerides). As a patient, you need to insist on more important tests as well…homocysteine, CRP, fibrinogen…
Clin Rev Spring:33-38, 2000 Nearly 50 years ago, epidemiologists coined the term “risk factors” to characterize personal traits and living habits that indicate an increased probability of cardiovascular disease (CVD). This simplistic concept provided the means to develop strategies for preventing CVD and its complications. Recently, the term “primordial prevention” has been used to indicate prevention of the modifiable risk factors. Some indicators of risk, including age, male sex, low socioeconomic status, and family history of premature CVD, are not modifiable. For other factors, intervention has been proven to lower CVD risk or is likely to lower CVD risk. Although control or elimination of established risk factors for CVD can markedly reduce the likelihood of coronary heart disease (CHD), approximately half of all patients who have had a CHD event have no major risk factors. …many potential new markers of CHD are under investigation. It is o! ur purpose to review those emerging risk factors relevant to plaque vulnerability — markers of inflammation, infection, an atherogenic/prothrombotic state, and genetic factors. Elucidation of new markers provides possible insights into the mechanisms of atherogenesis. In time, these emerging risk factors may lead to further explanation of CHD events and new interventions.