Cardiovascular risk factor profile in Greece: results from the CARDIO2000 and ATTICA epidemiological studies

During the past decades several epidemiological studies have provided a 'portrait' of the potential candidate for cardiovascular disease, introducing many emerging life-style risk factors such as obesity, unhealthy diet, exposure to passive smoking, lack of exercise, psychosocial stress, and depression, as well as elevated levels of triglycerides and clotting factors in the blood. Additionally, many differences have arisen in the estimated risk models, between populations as well as among individuals within populations, that make it difficult to generalise the results. This variation could be attributed to several geographical, cultural, social and behavioural differences between the investigated populations. Thus, the development of local epidemiological studies is considered essential. We present the results from two major epidemiological projects conducted in Greece during 2000-2002, the CARDI02000 and the ATTICA studies. Among several investigated parameters that were assessed for their influence on the risk of developing non-fatal acute coronary syndromes (CARDIO2000) we selected to present in this report the adverse effect of passive smoking, short-term depressive episodes and the protective effect of moderate alcohol consumption on coronary risk. Moreover, from the ongoing population-based survey (ATTICA) we selected to present our findings regarding the protective effect of the Mediterranean diet as well as the J-shape association between alcohol intake and several clinical and biochemical markers related to cardiovascular disease. Finally, we present the results from the Corfu cohort of the Seven Countries Study that completed four decades of prospective evaluation in the summer of 2001.