title: Environmental and societal influences acting on cardiovascular risk factors and disease at a population level: a review.
abstract: It has long been known that cardiovascular disease (CVD) rates vary considerably among populations, across space and through time. It is now apparent that most of the attributable risk for myocardial infarction 'within' populations from across the world can be ascribed to the varying levels of a limited number of risk factors among individuals in a population. Individual risk factors (e.g. blood pressure) can be modified with resulting health gains. Yet, the persistence of large international variations in cardiovascular risk factors and resulting CVD incidence and mortality indicates that there are additional factors that apply to 'populations' that are important to understand as part of a comprehensive approach to CVD control. This article reviews the evidence on why certain populations are more at risk than others.
authors.affiliation: Population Health Research Institute, McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences, 237 Barton Street East, Hamilton, ON L8L 2X2, Canada. clara@phri.ca
authors.forename: Clara Kayei
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Chow
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lock
authors.forename: Koon
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Teo
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Subramanian
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McKee
authors.forename: Salim
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yusuf
mesh_terms: D000397:Air Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D004777:Environment; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications; D044382:Population Groups / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects