Classical and Emerging Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease

In this and the next issue of Seminars in Vascular Medicine, invited experts summarize the current status of risk factors for vascular disease. These include descriptions of the risk factors and their measurement; their reported associations with CHD, stroke, and POAD in cross-sectional, case-control, and prospective observational studies (with pooled analyses and meta-analyses where available); and where possible, quantitative appraisal of the evidence from randomized interventional studies of the potential for disease prevention.

We have included both ``classical,'' established risk factors and ``emerging'' risk factors whose causal role has yet to be defined. The latter group include markers of infections, inflammation, and thrombosis, which are plausible mechanisms for the rupture of atherosclerotic plaques and the consequent thrombotic vascular occlusion, which initiates infarction of the heart, brain, or limb. We have not included two areas that have recently been comprehensively reviewed in Seminars in Vascular Medicine: Diabetes (Volume 2, February and May 2002) and sex hormones (Volume 1, 2002).

In this issue, a summary of the current status of common genetic polymorphisms is followed by reviews of the ``behavioral'' environmental risk factors: smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise, and psychosocial factors. Blood lipid fractions, which are established or potential mechanisms in atherothrombosis (cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and lipoprotein [a]) are then considered. The second issue will contain reviews of other mechanisms for atherothrombosis: blood pressure and markers of infection, inflammation, and thrombosis.

We thank all the authors for their contributions, and hope that readers will find them as informative and useful as we have.