The 5 risk factors contributing to over half of cardiovascular disease incidents

For the study, researchers analyzed data on more than 1.5 million people from 112 cohort studies conducted in 34 countries and eight geographic regions that participated in the Global Cardiovascular Risk Consortium.

They then looked at association between five risk factors and incident cardiovascular disease, as well as death from any cause. The five risk factors were:

1.       Body mass index

2.       Systolic blood pressure

3.       Non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol

4.       Current smoking

5.       Diabetes

The researchers found 57.2% of cardiovascular disease incidents among women and 52.6% of cardiovascular incidents among men could be attributed to the five risk factors. Meanwhile, 22.2% of deaths among women and 19.1% of deaths among men could be attributed to the five risk factors.

Specifically, the researchers found that diabetes and smoking contributed the highest risk for cardiovascular disease among both men and women.

Discussion

In the study, the researchers said that "strict control" of the five risk factors studied "could potentially prevent 57.2% of all cases of cardiovascular disease in women and 52.6% of all cases in men globally."

However, they noted that there is "a substantial scope for a more complete characterization of the risk of cardiovascular disease." Other factors including physical activity, alcohol consumption, air pollution, climate and noise, educational level, and psychosocial risk factors like depression have also been shown to have an effect on cardiovascular disease risk, as have biomarkers and genetic variants.

The researchers also noted that the effects of being overweight and obese "may be mediated by hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and diabetes." Models in the study that included body mass index, systolic blood pressure, and diabetes "attribute the share of the effect of body mass index to systolic blood pressure and diabetes, even if overweight or obesity is the real underlying cause."

It's also possible that the definition of "current smoking" in the study, as well as smoking cessation during follow-up, could have led to an underestimation of the risk of tobacco smoking on cardiovascular disease, the researchers said. (Magnussen et. al., New England Journal of Medicine, 8/26)