title: Risk factors: definitions and practical implications.
abstract: The concept of the risk factor is nowadays absolutely central in clinical practice, especially in disease prevention. In this paper we present general definitions of risk factors and related concepts, the ways they strengthen each other and the possibility of modifying them for disease prevention. As well as stressing modification of individual risk factors, our aim was to draw attention to their true importance, the frequency with which they cluster (which complicates their management), their relationship with disease and the excellent results that can be obtained through primary prevention. Finally, we present the main cardiovascular risk factors: smoking, hypercholesterolemia, physical inactivity, overweight and obesity, diabetes mellitus and arterial hypertension.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Estudos de Medicina Baseada na Evidência, Faculdade de Medicina de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Domingos
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vaz
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Antonió Vaz
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Carneiro
mesh_terms: D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D012307:Risk Factors