title: Age as a risk factor.
abstract: The risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) is generally dependent on the presence or absence of traditional risk factors. Age is a well-known traditional risk factor, generally considered nonmodifiable. This review discusses the common use of individual age in prediction of CVD incidence using different risk scores, whether or not age as a risk factor can be modified, the methods used to evaluate long-term and short-term CVD risk, appropriate communication of individual risk based on age group and CVD risk, and the influence of age on cardiac and vascular risk factors.
authors.affiliation: Section of Cardiology, Dartmouth Medical School, Heart and Vascular Center, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH 03756, USA.
authors.forename: Ravi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dhingra
authors.forename: Ramachandran S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Vasan
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D017281:Cost of Illness; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D011322:Primary Prevention; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D013995:Time