"Risk factors" was an inclusive term referring to all individual, or even social factors, which were associated with a greater likelihood of developing coronary artery disease (CAD).

Advertisement

Raised total cholesterol, smoking and raised blood pressure were initially linked to the increasing incidence of CAD.

Now, 40 years later, these still remain the major risk factors but, in the meantime, more than 300 other associations have been found between biochemical, clinical, social and demographic variables and the development of CAD.

Risk factors can be conveniently divided into the following groups:

• biological
• inherited
• behavioural
• secondary to disease
• emotion/stress

Rate this article Poor 1 2 3 4 5 Excellent

JOBS

Senior Designer - Sport's Illustrated Western Cape - Cape Town VISUAL C++ DEVELOPER Gauteng - Pretoria C# DEVELOPERS x2 Gauteng - North/Sandton FIELD SALES MANAGER Gauteng E-COMMERCE DEVELOPER (6 MONTH CONTRACT Gauteng SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT Gauteng - North/Sandton DATA ANALYST Gauteng - Johannesburg TEAM LEADER: RISK ANALYSIS / QUANTATIVE ANALYST Gauteng - Johannesburg Find more jobs Register your CV Post a job