title: Assessing coronary heart disease risk with traditional and novel risk factors.
abstract: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the industrialized world, and a number of well-characterized factors, including advanced age, hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, and smoking, contribute to cardiovascular risk. Integration of these factors using the Framingham calculation estimates the absolute 10-year risk for coronary heart disease (CHD), which can be used to guide therapy. Recent studies have demonstrated that additional markers, including elevated lipoprotein(a), homocysteine, sitosterol, and particularly C-reactive protein (CRP), are also associated with increased risk for CHD. In particular, high-sensitivity CRP has been shown to identify patients with high CHD risk who may not have elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and may add to the predictive value of the Framingham functions for CHD risk assessment. Assessment of global risk is particularly important in lipid management, as the LDL-C target goals are determined by risk category.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Medical Geriatrics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425, USA. wilsonpw@musc.edu
authors.forename: Peter W F
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Wilson
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D006710:Homocysteine / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D017270:Lipoprotein(a) / Q000097:blood; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D017270:Lipoprotein(a); D006710:Homocysteine; D002097:C-Reactive Protein