Cardiovascular risk factors: hemorheologic and hemostatic components.
The original objectives of the Framingham Project are presented along with the concept of cardiovascular risk factors. The traditional risk factors (dyslipidemia, hypertension, smoking, diabetes/glucose intolerance, age, male gender, family history, and obesity) are discussed together with other predisposing factors and biomarkers of cardiovascular disease (circulating in the blood, physical, morphologic and genomic). Of these, certain hemorheologic and hemostatic factors are highlighted as predictors and/or markers of atherosclerosis and subsequent cardiovascular events. The difficulties encountered in defining cardiovascular risks are the result of different abnormalities being given the same name, different methodologies being used for the same problem, and the different effects that a given condition may have on different vascular sectors. Additionally, some risk factors or biomarkers represent single problems, whereas others identify aggregations of indicators, pathophysiologic pathways or etiologies. In the future, genomic and/or proteomic identification of cardiovascular disease mechanisms may help to clarify the situation.
Martins e Silva
J
J
Unidade de Biopatologia Vascular do Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Lisboa, Portugal. jsilva@fm.ul.pt
Saldanha
Carlota
C
D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D018056:Hemorheology; D006487:Hemostasis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors